Page 405 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 18 March 2014
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The truth is the government knew it had to divest itself of ACTTAB even before such devices and changes to the betting industry came into being. So again we are seeing a government that has been sitting on its hands for a very long time until they had no option. We had the PricewaterhouseCoopers report which set out a number of options, and we finally got the government to say, “Well, yes, we need to move on.”
What is lacking in this bill or as part of a package is certainty for the industry. Many out there did not know this bill was even to be debated in February, let alone today, until I brought it to their attention. Again, this lack of consultation is certainly not giving the industry a lot of confidence that this minister is across the bill and that this minister will be able to deliver anything for them.
In the light of these shortcomings, the government is to sell ACTTAB. We will not be opposing the bill. It is a machinery bill and in that regard we will have to wait and see how it actually operates. The minister has shown disdain for the scrutiny of bills report. I know she wrote back to the committee, but it will be interesting for the minister to explain why the government has only chosen to address less than a third of what was raised by the committee and how the minister intends in future to make it work. I suspect we will be back again, as is the case with so many of Ms Burch’s bills, to amend it.
That said, I will closely follow the implementation of the bill when it becomes the act. We certainly look forward to the government addressing the concerns the industry has made quite public, concerns that I do not believe have been addressed as yet. We certainly will be keeping an eye on the government as they move forward to the sale of ACTTAB.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.49): This bill is designed to facilitate the sale of ACTTAB to an appropriate commercial entity for their operation. I signalled my support for the privatisation of ACTTAB during the debate of the government’s motion in late November last year. As members may recall, at that time I amended the motion to call on the government to pursue a number of outcomes from the sale of ACTTAB, one of which was to ensure that the successful applicant has appropriate experience, capacity and integrity to operate a wagering business.
This bill is designed in part to deliver those kinds of outcomes. It sets up structures and parameters and defines powers whereby a regulated industry can be established in the ACT and operate in good order free from criminal influence.
At the time of the motion last year I also outlined the views of the ACT Greens membership on the privatisation of ACTTAB, and I will take a moment to reiterate them today. The views I have received from our members are that the territory government should not be in the gambling business at all and that it is inappropriate for the government to be using its limited resources to sustain a gambling enterprise. Given the capital investment that would be required by government to keep ACTTAB competitive in the betting market, it is a fine time to divest the territory of this asset. This Totalisator Bill is one of a series of legislative steps to facilitate that divestment.
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