Page 3322 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 19 August 2009
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… Chief Minister Jon Stanhope warned the local Labor Club board could face the sack unless the sale was aborted.
This is the public record. These are the issues that have been put forward by the president of the Labor club in relation to these issues. They are issues that need to be closely examined. They go towards who controls the Labor club; they go towards compliance with the gaming act; they go towards, in Mr Hatch’s opinion, compliance or the impact in relation to a number of other pieces of legislation, including the Corporations Law and tax law. These have been raised by the president of the Labor club.
As I have said, we simply do not know whether Mr Hatch’s concerns are correct or not, but they need to be taken seriously. Someone in that senior role needs to be taken seriously when they make these claims.
There are a number of conflicts in this area. The party charged with regulating the gaming industry is a major player in that industry. The body charged with investigating the industry breaches reports to a minister who has a vested interest in the outcome of that investigation.
Ms Gallagher: So the Gambling and Racing Commission is not independent then?
MR SESELJA: The CEO, who is charged with running an investigation—
Ms Gallagher: So they are not independent? They do not have your support then, Mr Seselja?
MR SESELJA: She does not want to hear this. The CEO, who is charged with running the investigation, is appointed by and can be removed by the minister who has a vested interest in the outcome of the investigation.
Ms Gallagher: And then what?
MR SESELJA: They want to investigate a conflict of interest by creating another potential conflict of interest. They want to put a public servant in an impossible position. They want to put a public servant in a position where he is investigating his own government. We see the amendments that have been circulated. That is why they are desperate for this to happen.
There is desperation on the part of the Labor Party to see the public service investigating the government. That is not an independent process. It is not the same as the Auditor-General; it is not the same as a genuinely independent individual who is not a public servant. There is no reflection on the individual public servant, but we do not get the head of TAMS or the head of another department to come and investigate the ministers, because they are not at arm’s length.
There are conflicts of interest all over the place. What we want is a full explanation. If we do not get a proper, full investigation—an independent investigation—to look at these very serious claims that have been made by senior influential figures—(Time expired.)
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