Page 3740 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 26 August 2009
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of the ministerial code of conduct, where ministers are required to avoid situations where their public duty may, or has the potential to, conflict with their private interests.
Now let me turn to the Gaming Machine Act. Before I turn to the Gaming Machine Act, let me say that this is interesting in the context of today and the answer that the Chief Minister gave, which again raises even more questions. Just some weeks ago, Jon Stanhope voted to veto the sale of the Canberra Labor Club Group as a member of the powerful administration committee of the Labor Party, yet today in the Assembly he stated that he was 100 per cent behind selling the clubs. The backflip by the Chief Minister is of concern. You have to ask what forces are at play here, given that the right faction of the ALP, with its overwhelming numbers in the Labor Party caucus, can essentially dictate to the Chief Minister how the government and the Labor Party can be run.
Now let us look at the Gaming Machine Act. The Gaming Machine Act prohibits, in section 14, the use of the gaming machine licence for individual or commercial gain by someone other than the club. There appear to be grounds for questioning the basis of the decision by the Labor Party to sell the Labor Club Group, as an integral component of the transaction was to be the sale of the gaming machine licences. The Labor Club itself has acknowledged the significance of these licences to the overall transaction. In the Canberra Times of 15 August this year, the president of the Labor Party was reported as saying:
Cancelling the Gaming Machine Licences would make much of the clubs worthless.
Some of the recent headlines in the Canberra Times reinforce concerns about the nature of the proposed transaction. On 25 July 2009 we had the headline “ALP branch sells ‘river of revenue’”. On 26 June 2009, there was “Labor in for $20 million boost on club sale”. Moreover, once the prospect of the transaction became public, other players emerged and other issues or concerns were raised. The national executive of the Labor Party weighed into the transaction, as reported in the Canberra Times on 19 July 2009:
The national executive also made it clear in high-level talks on Thursday that the proposed $20 million sale of the party’s lucrative Canberra Labor clubs to the Tradesmen’s Unions Club might not reflect market price.
You would ask why the national executive might weigh in. We had further statements from the national executive when they said that the Canberra Labor Club Group represents about half of the asset base of the national party.
Ms Gallagher: Why don’t you join the Labor Party, Brendan?
Mr Hargreaves: You wouldn’t be the first man who tried.
Ms Gallagher: Last time I looked you were a member of the Liberal Party.
MR SMYTH: Yes, that is okay. We are keeping you lot honest. That is the whole purpose of this, Katy. That is the whole purpose. From this we therefore have a
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