Page 2445 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
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The second recommendation on ACTTAB is:
The Committee recommends that on the first sitting day following the sale of ACTTAB Limited the Government detail to the Legislative Assembly consequential and transitional arrangements for employees and the racing industry post the sale.
The government’s response: “Noted.” The government’s media release announcing the sale of ACTTAB dated 30 July 2014 included information on transitional arrangements for ACTTAB employees and the racing industry. There was not a great deal. If you are asking the employees to rely on the government’s press release, that is very sad.
The report goes on to say a few other things. Recommendation 63 says:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government consider options for the retraining of any ACTTAB Limited employee who may lose their job as a consequence of the sale of ACTTAB Limited.
The government’s response is:
Agreed.
From the outset of the commencement of the sale process ACTTAB engaged a professional Human Relations firm who have been working closely with staff to help prepare them for pursuing new career opportunities including transitioning workshops, career counselling and individual assistance to staff.
One can read from that that, yes, there will be job losses, and the government agrees that they will have to do something for those that lose out from this sale.
There are other issues. Part of the handling of the process was that most people heard about this on the radio before the government told them. I understand there was some confusion over the timings when the announcement was made to the stock exchange, but I understand that the industry for some days had no notice from the government, that they heard about it from people who had heard on the radio in Melbourne that it had been sold and who had purchased it. So there is, again, a question of process. Was it handled appropriately? Could it be done better? Can we learn from these lessons? As a consequence of that, apparently most of the staff, if not all of the staff, knew their fate before they were called into the meeting the government had arranged. I understand that a lot of people were upset by the way that occurred.
There are lessons to be learned here. If we are to have asset sales in the future, let us work out that we have got the process right, let us optimise the process and let us learn from this first sale of an asset. We do not have too many, and we do not do this too often. But if the government are certain they have got it right, I do not see why they would stand in the way of referring this to the Auditor-General. If the outcome is the best outcome, I do not see why they would stand in the way of referring this to the Auditor-General. If the options they have taken are correct, I do not see why they
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