The ACT TAB would be barred from a link with NSW unless it met several conditions, the NSW Minister for Sport, Chris Downy, said yesterday.
“”Any prospect of a link between ACTTAB and NSW is simply not on at this stage,” he said.
The ACT would have to met at least four conditions: to demonstrate that all link with the controversial Vanuatu-based VITAB were severed; controls to ensure ACTTAB did not induce NSW punters away from the NSW TAB; to ensure the interests of surrounding NSW race clubs were protected; and to ensure controls were in place to protect the integrity of the NSW computer system.
The ACT Minister for Sport, David Lamont, said he would met Mr Downy on Tuesday and he was sure the remaining issues could be sorted out and a NSW link put in place.
Mr Downy was responsibly looking after the interests of NSW punters, “”just as I am looking after the interests of ACT punters”.
The arrangement with Victoria is due to end next month.
“”There is not question of that being revived,” Mr Lamont said.
The Victorian TAB (VicTAB) is being privatised through a public float. VicTAB severed the link with the ACT because of the VITAB contract. This led to a successful no confidence motion in the then Sports Minister, Wayne Berry, for misleading the Assembly in saying all was well with the VITAB agreement.
It also led to the Pearce inquiry which was highly critical of ACTTAB for the way it approached the VITAB arrangement.
A document obtained by The Canberra Times indicates that at bureaucratic and TAB level there is an agreement for an ACT-NSW link.
The link is crucial to the commercial success of ACTTAB. Unless ACTTAB can share a pool on each race, quinella and trifecta with a large state the ACT pool is too small to ensure a decent return for a large punter. All TAB dividends are based upon a payout of 85 per cent of the pool, not on any fixed odds.
Some races might have only, for example, as little as $500 of ACT money in the pool this would limit a punter who put an additional $500 bet on that race to a 2-1 return (assuming no other winners) even if the horse was an outsider.
The small pool means small returns and therefore big punters desert the scene reducing turnover and returns to the government and the racing industry.
A letter from the NSW TAB general manager to ACTTAB, Allen Windross, (before the delivery of the Pearce report) says: “”It now seems that all impediments have been removed and that we should now be able to proceed to complete an agreement. This agreement would then of course need the endorsement of my Minister and presumably the ACT and Northern Territory Ministers.”
(ACTTAB has a pooling arrangement with the Northern Territory.)
Mr Windross’s letter continued: “”Accordingly, I have requested our solicitors to commence drawing up the form of agreement.”
Mr Lamont said that his appointment of a new board last week sent a message to the Canberra community, Canberra punters and NSW that ACTTAB was in competent hands. He was sure that an arrangement could be worked out with NSW.