Page 660 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 April 1994
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The fifth issue identified by Mr Berry has been dealt with earlier, I believe. That is the issue of the involvement of Peter Bartholomew. Mr Bartholomew, according to both Mr Berry and Mr Wood this evening, attended only one meeting between ACTTAB and VITAB in Canberra. That one meeting, though, was in fact the main meeting. The day after it finished, VITAB wrote to ACTTAB and stated that they were the preferred tenderer - that is, ACTTAB got the deal - which, as we already know, is inaccurate, because obviously ACTTAB was the only tenderer. It is hard to be a preferred tenderer if you are the only tenderer. So the one meeting that Mr Bartholomew attended was the most important of all the negotiations. As a person involved in the marketing of VITAB, according to Mr Neck's own comments, Mr Bartholomew's bona fides should have been scrutinised.
But perhaps the most serious example of misleading the Assembly that Mr Berry is guilty of was contained in his remarks this afternoon when he addressed what he termed was the sixth and final issue - the issue related to our expulsion from the superpool and his comments in the Assembly in February and March. I quote the Minister as to when VicTAB told ACTTAB that its decision to expel us from the superpool was made. He said:
VicTAB confirmed its intentions on 14 February 1994.
Therefore, on 14 February VicTAB confirmed its intentions that it had already given on 31 January that we were out; that the contract had been terminated, with the usual six months given after termination. That is clear evidence that more than a week before he was asked a series of questions in this Assembly Mr Berry knew that there was no way for ACTTAB to get back into the Victorian superpool. Even after he knew that the Victorian decision was final and non-negotiable, Mr Berry said on 1 March - - -
Mr Berry: I did not know that it was non-negotiable.
MRS CARNELL: He says himself that on 14 February VicTAB confirmed its intentions to terminate the agreement. They confirmed their intentions on 14 February, Mr Berry, and you know why. The reason was that by that stage a number of negotiations, a number of telephone calls and other things had been entered into between Mr Neck and the Victorian TAB. The Victorian TAB told us on the 14th that no, it was not on. They confirmed their intentions. Mr Berry said on 2 March:
We know a good deal when we see one. What we also did, and what I personally was involved in, was to make sure that the deal was safe with respect to the Territory.
He did not say safe with regard to a contract or to VITAB or to VicTAB but safe with regard to the Territory. I said earlier today, and I say it again, that Mr Berry knew full well that our expulsion from the superpool was entirely relevant to questions asked about VITAB in late February and early March. I noted Ms Szuty's questions on that.
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