Page 1061 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 17 March 2010
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“The future of the ACT racing industry is more secure after the ACT Legislative Assembly passed a Labour bill which will see the local industry earn up to $1.5 million from interstate organisations”. He said “we have based our legislation on what’s currently working best in other states and territories”.
What he didn’t say is that he was slashing the traditional funding model by $1.5 million.
What he didn’t say is that in other states the traditional funding models have been maintained.
If the legislation is based on what works best in other states why has the ACT racing industry been misled with a media release giving the impression that the ACT racing industry will benefit to the tune of $1.5 million?
The question has to be asked: why did the minister not have the courage to deliver that face to face with the industry? Because he never does. That is the problem. This is the minister who has cut everything that he has touched. He cut schools when he got the schools portfolio. He cut tourism when he got the tourism portfolio. He has now got racing and gambling, and what does he do? He cuts it, without consultation—no, sorry; I will give him his due: with some consultation, with a little consultation. But without looking them in the face and telling them the reason—instead, leaving them with the impression that they would be better off.
Paragraph (6) of the amendment “notes the Government’s commitment to provide in writing to the Assembly by the last sitting day of October 2010” a number of things. The last day in October 2010? The carcase will be cold by that time; the bodies will be buried. It will be over by the last sitting day in October 2010. It says:
… details of the revised funding model the … industry will operate under from 1 July 2010 …
Why wouldn’t the Greens insist that the government tell the Assembly the arrangements before they come into operation? Who wants to get a report from the government in October, four months after the arrangements have come into place? They will be announced in the budget in May, so it will be six months after they come into place. The Greens think it is reasonable for the minister to come back six months after the crime and tell us what happened. Gee, that will be news. That is a speech I will look forward to hearing. If I was the minister, I would be very happy to see that. Paragraph 6(a) says:
… details of the revised funding model … will operate … from 1 July 2010 including the yearly process the Government proposes to use to calculate budget allocations for the racing industry …
I would have thought that you might ask for that in the budget week. I would have thought that you might ask for that in the estimates. But of course the Greens have pre-agreed to the budget, so it does not matter. The Greens have agreed to it. The Greens will pass the government’s budget.
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