Page 1226 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 11 April 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
(b) in 2015 ACT Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury announced a ban on junk food, alcohol, gambling, fossil fuels and weapons advertising on ACTION buses; and
(c) in 2017 the ACT Greens questioned the ethics of the ACT Government for its investment in poker machine manufacturers; and
(3) condemns the Government for continuing to derive revenue from greyhound racing.
From time to time we can say in this place that a motion is due to popular demand. This is one of those occasions. I have had so many ask me to act, to do something, about the fact that this government continues to profit from a practice that it is banning. It is a stunning hypocrisy from this Labor-Greens government. This is another example.
You can shake your head and snigger if you like, Ms Cheyne, but it is absolute reality. This is another example of the double standards that this government applies in so many areas. They are more than happy to stand here in this place and out in the community and tell members of the greyhound community that their livelihoods, their way of life and their hobbies are something to be ashamed of.
This government suggests that it is shameful that anyone should seek to receive payment from the racing of greyhounds. You have seen them; you have heard them. They look down their noses at greyhound people and condemn them for deriving any income from greyhound racing, but they turn a blind eye to the fact that they are receiving well over $1 million over the forward estimates from greyhound racing.
These payments to the government are sourced from a fee that was negotiated during the sale of ACTTAB. In 2014 the government announced the sale of ACTTAB. This sale would have had a clear impact on the racing industry however it played out. It was eventually decided the purchaser would be Tabcorp and the sale price would be $105 million. This price was far above any valuation provided. I think some were talking about $30 million. The question we have to ask is this: how did we end up with a sale price so far exceeding what was sought?
In March 2014 the Treasurer explained that—I quote his words—“you could get a large capital sum as a one-off and a very small annual contribution to the racing industry”. We saw the Treasurer explain to potential bidders that if they increased the value of their up-front payments the government would seek lower annual contributions directly to the racing industry, the idea being that the government would administer the funding from the sale of ACTTAB to the racing industry over time rather than take a direct payment from the successful bidder. Should we have trusted the government on this one? Clearly the answer is not at all. What we now know is that the government has pocketed that money and has failed to outline how future payments to the racing industry will be administered.
Many of us here are aware of the government’s treatment of the greyhound industry in particular. After being removed from government payments to the racing industry, the greyhound club refused to give up and continued to race and effectively became
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video