Page 2630 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 1994
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MR LAMONT: This is the sheer arrogance! This is the last paragraph. Mr Kaine, this is it:
I remain grateful that you agreed to meet with me to discuss this issue, which of course is of great importance to the future of the ACTTAB as well as the racing industry in the South East Region ...
Sheer arrogance, Madam Speaker! I do apologise to you, Mr Berry, for speaking in these terms to a Minister of a Liberal government; but they were reasonable, I would suggest. Madam Speaker, this arrogance that I am supposed to have exhibited, as Mrs Carnell would allege, goes on. I would like to read to you a further letter. This one is dated 22 June. This was the day after I actually met with Mr Downy. Again I apologise if this is regarded as arrogance. I wrote:
Dear Chris,
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the ACTTAB to NSW TAB linkage proposal yesterday.
I have a clear understanding of your position and desire to protect the NSW Racing Industry ...
It goes on. This is the last paragraph; this is the sheer arrogance:
It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday and I appreciated your open and frank approach to discussion of this important issue.
This is pretty outrageous and arrogant! Let me go on.
A couple of weeks later, following the TAB to TAB discussions, something started to go awry in those negotiations. That occurred up to and around 15 July. That is an important date. It was then that the whole thing started to go downhill in relation to the detailed negotiations with New South Wales. In one day the New South Wales Minister proposed that there be an increase in the processing fee from 0.25 per cent to one per cent - that is a $780,000 cost impost on ACTTAB - as part of that contract. On that same day there were suggestions that it come back to a one-year contract.
The two good things, following that sort of absolute nonsense as far as negotiation is concerned, were that both propositions were reversed. They were reversed so that the offer from New South Wales was 0.25 per cent in terms of a processing fee - - -
Mrs Carnell: You do not think I did that as well? Maybe I fixed it up for you.
MR LAMONT: Mrs Carnell, I am pleased to see you attempt to say, even with some jocularity, that you had some responsibility in the final contract with New South Wales. Do you know why, Mrs Carnell? I deliberately did not brief you from 17 June because I no longer trusted you to keep the confidence within which those briefings had been occurring. That was me, Mrs Carnell. I no longer trusted you in relation to keeping the faith in which these negotiations had been occurring. I did that for a very simple reason.
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