Page 2442 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
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of the things that business always asks for from any government—that they have some certainty so that they can plan their future. I do not believe, and I do not think the industry believes, that there is any certainty for the industry as an outcome of this sale.
Paragraph (2) of the motion calls on the government to detail to this Assembly consequential and transitional arrangements for employees and the racing industry as a result of the sale. It is very important that the government puts on this table in this place far more detail than they have through a press release or through the courts and the media. What it actually means is that, as a consequence of the lack of certainty for the employees, in 2(b) we call on them to consider retraining options for ACTTAB Ltd employees who may lose their jobs as a consequence of the sale. And in (3) we ask them to ensure that the funding arrangements allow the racing industry to be, as far as possible, self-reliant and sustainable in the long term. That is what they would like: they would like to know what their long-term future is.
With that in mind, we think the best person to look at the sale process and consider the outcomes of the process is the Auditor-General of the ACT. So we ask the Assembly to refer the sale of ACTTAB to the Auditor-General.
Initially, the process was queried by a number of groups who believed they were shut out of the sale of the agency. There a number of Canberra Times reports. On 24 March this year, for instance, there was one headlined “Bidders shut out from sale of agency”. And there are some local groups, I understand, that had an interest in keeping ACTTAB in the ACT—ACT-owned groups who believed they had something to offer but who were not even considered.
Then there are groups like corporate bookmakers, who are reported to be unhappy and who say that the government is only going with the big organisations and do not understand what they can offer. It would be interesting to know what those other options were, what they were offering, and how they looked at the development of the industry in the ACT.
Canberra has a very large equestrian community. One of the peaks of that industry is thoroughbred racing and harness racing. It is important that we understand their role in the local community and the joy and entertainment they bring, but at the same time—
Dr Bourke: What about the doggies?
MR SMYTH: Dr Bourke says, “What about the doggies?” I will get to the doggies in a minute. It is with this in mind that the government are currently doing their study about the co-location of the three codes, which includes the greyhounds, and whether or not that would have some benefits.
We need to know on what basis the government excluded those bids. The industry had a view that it should go to one of the TABs, one of the TAB operators. But have we not looked at the options because that simply made it easier? Given the incentive that the federal government has put on the table with its asset sales, and the Treasurer has
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