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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2044 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

It is certainly the case that the gambling dollar is being increasingly spread around and that ACTTAB has to be at the top end of the competitive field in order to meet that challenge. However, it seems to me that the Government claims that a simple conversion to a TOC from a statutory authority will bring miraculous change, miraculous results. Mr De Domenico made the same sort of claim with ACTEW. I have heard it before. It is a simple statement to make, but the basic fact is that it takes more than a name change and a change of structure, significant as it is, to ensure that ACTTAB is operating at the very best competitive level. The facts are that it is the calibre of the board and the quality of the staff that will tell us how good that body is, take that body into the future and ensure that it retains its place as a leading enterprise.

In the briefing I had - I thank the Minister for a top quality briefing - I was informed that ACTTAB is presently going quite well, thank you; all the signs are good. That was my view of the world anyway. It is going quite well at the moment. That is not a position that should just be maintained. If you just maintain the present level of enterprise, then you will fall behind as everybody else gets better.

ACTTAB has been through quite a number of changes in the period since self-government. Originally GALA, it changed under the then Chief Minister, Trevor Kaine, to a TOC. It then changed back to a statutory authority, and now it is proposed that it once again be a TOC. Along with the need for it to grow and to continue to be more enterprising, there are also benefits to be achieved from stability. If it is going well and all the signs are good, there is no reason at this time to change. Therefore, we will oppose the Bill. Mr Speaker, if the Bill passes through the in-principle stage, I will be proposing an amendment relating to a worker representative on the board.

Mr De Domenico: Even though you said that the calibre of the board was so important.

MR WOOD: That will enhance the calibre of the board. It is my advice that the amendment that has been sought has been substantially worked through in the Parliamentary Counsel's office. A telephone conversation five to 10 minutes ago indicated to me that it will probably be ready tomorrow, certainly by Thursday. If the Bill passes the in-principle stage, it would be my wish to adjourn the detail stage to later this week when, as I am sure the Assembly would want, we will be in a position to consider such amendments as are proposed.

MR DE DOMENICO (Minister for Urban Services and Minister for Business, Employment and Tourism) (11.23), in reply: Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Wood for his contribution. May I very quickly reiterate what Mr Wood said. I agree with him. ACTTAB is highly competitive and it needs to be increasingly competitive. Mr Wood said - I wrote it down - that one of the most important things we need to look at is the calibre of the board. Mr Wood, if there is one thing that members of this Assembly learnt from experience with ACTTAB, it is that the calibre of the board is most important. In fact, it is a crucial aspect of this legislation. It was the calibre of the board that brought ACTTAB into disrepute. The then Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Lamont, was forced overnight to sack the board because of the lack of expertise that the board had at the time of VITAB.

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