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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 2991 ..
MR CORBELL: I ask a supplementary question. I think I will be using a standing order after question time to address that one, Mr Speaker. My supplementary question is: was the Stadiums Authority consulted about either resurfacing operation? If so, was there any advice from the authority. If there was, will you table it?
MS CARNELL: The Stadiums Authority were involved with both decisions.
MS TUCKER: I direct my question to Mr Humphries. It is about the gambling commission. On the webpage they have instructions to applicants. I realise you will not have the section in front of you, but I will let you know what my question is about. It is on page 10, point 5. You can take the question on notice if you do not want to answer it today. The instructions to applicants state:
5. A detailed Business Plan of the proposed business of a licensed provider. The business plan should also include:
a submission describing ...
If the applicant requires guidance as to the format and content of a Business Plan, they may contact Ernst and Young (Brisbane Office-Australia) who can provide assistance.
My question is: do you support Ernst and Young getting this special attention in regulations of the gambling commission? I would be interested in your response on how that sits with your view of competition policy and also your response in light of the fact that, as I understand it, Ernst and Young developed the guidelines for the gambling commission.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I am not sure I entirely understand the question. In any case, with the level of detail required, I will have to be take it on notice. I do not know what relationship the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission has with Ernst and Young. It may be that they have been engaged as consultants. As you are aware, for these sorts of things, there is extensive use of consultants. That is entirely appropriate. All of the agencies of the ACT government, even the biggest of our government operations, are relatively small on a national scale. We cannot possibly have within our own ranks the necessary level of expertise on particular issues. I do not know what qualifications Ernst and Young had to develop the guidelines Ms Tucker referred to, but I am sure that if there is some consultancy, for example, it has been let on an appropriate basis, and it is going to be the kind of approach which will best provide the Gambling and Racing Commission with the background it needs to conduct this kind of operation. I will take the question on notice.
MS TUCKER: I ask a supplementary question. It is not the issue of using a consultant to develop the guidelines but the fact that they have an advertisement in the regulations to say that they will help applicants to develop a business plan. I would be interested in a response to private providers who have expressed concerns to me about the fact that Ernst and Young is mentioned in regulations as doing this work. There are other private providers in the industry who would be happy to get the work of assisting applicants to produce a business plan.
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