Page 2271 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 12 August 2014
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As an example, there is the cultural survey that is done in ACT Health that the minister will not let us see. If people have problems with that, they can go to the ACT public service commissioner, the same ACT public service commissioner that works for the Minister for Health. You have this ridiculous situation where there is a problem with the culture and instead of being able to go to someone independent, go to someone who is free to look at things objectively, the same person that is meant to be doing that job also works for the Chief Minister. It is unworkable, and it is no reflection on any individual at all. We are well served by our public servants. But you cannot have a position where someone is wearing two hats; you may well have a situation where the responsibilities of those two jobs are diametrically opposed.
There are other areas that I could discuss here and that fit in other areas of government, and I will extrapolate more on the Mr Fluffy situation under the CMD line. But as a priority, I would like to note that I am in lockstep with the government when it comes to dealing with this matter. This is going to be a substantive issue in terms of government priorities, in terms of potential impact on our budget, and I reiterate that—and it is not a blank cheque; we will keep the government accountable—certainly the Chief Minister can count on our support when it comes to dealing with this difficult and complex matter that is so important to those families affected.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
ACT Gambling and Racing Commission—
Schedule 1, Part 1.2—$177,461 (net cost of outputs), totalling $177,461.
Schedule 1A, Part 1.2—$4,436,539 (net cost of outputs), $127,000 (capital injection), totalling $4,563,539.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (10.42): The ACT Gambling and Racing Commission provide a valuable service to the community in overseeing gambling activity in the ACT, particularly in the work that they do in addressing the issues of problem gambling. We heard from the commission about the stigma of problem gambling and how they are working to address it. Indeed pokies seem to be the preferred method for many problem gamblers, and it is all about early intervention in attempting to deal with this problem and its effects on the community.
We had discussions with the commission about the sale of ACTTAB and the future of the racing issues, issues which I think will be clarified far more clearly after the sale. And we need to be aware of that. Discussion also looked at the co-location of the codes, thoroughbreds, harness and greyhounds. That report is being finalised and, again, will be something of interest to the Gambling and Racing Commission when it is available.
The commission informed us of their work on the sale of the ACT’s casino, Casino Canberra. It is linked through Casinos Austria with the casino in Cairns, which is the subject of a bid by a developer. They are now going through a process largely being run by the Queensland gaming and racing commission equivalent so that the ACT
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