Page 3742 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 26 August 2009
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Perhaps the Treasurer would also like to table those documents for the certainty of this place. Part 1(b) says:
… the continual refusal of the Chief Minister to fully answer questions concerning his role in the proposed sale of the Canberra Labor Club Group …
Part 1(c) says:
… that the Gambling and Racing Commission does not have the same independent role as the Auditor-General or an Assembly committee …
Part 1(d) says:
… the significant concern surrounding the proposed transaction and apparent conflict of interest with the ACT Labor Government …
The motion:
… calls on the Chief Minister to fully detail his participation in the proposed sale of the Canberra Labor Club Group.
That is not hard. We have asked a number of times. We have got a number of ministers who have simply answered no. They have given the confirmation that neither they nor their staff or their representatives have sought to influence or have a part in this. That is not the answer that we have received from the Chief Minister.
For clarity’s sake, it is very important. For certainty of process, it is very important. For an understanding of compliance with the law, it is very important that the Chief Minister fully details his participation in the proposed sale of the Canberra Labor Club Group. That is why we are moving this motion today.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Treasurer, Minister for Health, Minister for Community Services and Minister for Women) (5.23): Despite whatever Mr Smyth may claim in here, the vendetta on the Labor clubs is motivated by politics of envy and nothing more. This petty jealousy and desire to score cheap political points through the bill he tabled this morning has meant that he and the Liberals have chosen to draw the entire club industry into their politicking, all for the sake of a fight with the Labor Party over the Labor club. And with this motion, he sees fit to draw into his pursuit the independence of the Gambling and Racing Commission, making unjustified, uninformed and ignorant claims about the roles and powers of the commission in relation to issues on the proposed sale of any club in the ACT.
Under the Gambling and Racing Control Act, the Gambling and Racing Commission has extremely wide-ranging powers, including but not limited to approving and regulating all gambling and racing activities within the ACT and investigating and conducting inquiries into issues related to gaming and racing, including the activities of individuals in relation to gaming and racing, for the purposes of exercising functions under the gaming laws. Thus, the powers exercised by the commission for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the gaming laws are very broad,
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