1994_12_december_wright

Former ALP fund-raiser Charles Wright had been proposed as a founding major shareholder of the holding company of Vitab in July 1993, according to a letter to the ACTTAB at the time obtained yesterday. This is contrary to government efforts to dissociate Vitab and Mr Wright. Last year, Mr Wright’s appointment as ACT Tourism Commissioner was attacked by the Opposition because he had been named in the WA Inc Royal Commission report as having passed $80,000 in raised funds to the secretary of former WA Premier Brian Burke and because he had been a director of a company that had gone broke leaving staff unpaid.

When the Vitab affair started to come under fire, informed sources say that Mr Wright was asked to take a back seat and not have a formal role because of the earlier bad publicity surrounding him.

The Vanuatu-based Vitab signed an agreement with ACTTAB last year under which it would get access to the ACT betting pool which in turn was pooled with Victoria. It resulted in Victoria pulling the pin on the ACT, sending ACT dividends into chaos
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1994_12_december_waste

By CRISPIN HULL People can be very house proud. They like to show you their latest furniture, their new kitchen bench, vegetable garden or some other accoutrement of modern suburban living.

But this night it was different. It was a coolish night about six of seven months ago. We were over at some friends’ place in Kaleen for dinner.

What was it to be? A new tropical-fish tank perhaps? A new CD player? A modernised bathroom?

No. We were led outside and proudly shown two green plastic wheelie bins.
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1994_12_december_walker

The appointment of the new chair of the National Capital Planning Authority was a “”worst case” of the Labor mates system, according to Independent MLA Michael Moore. The new chair is Professor Evan Walker, a Minister in the Victorian Labor Government from 1982 to 1990, including Minister for Planning and Minister for Major Projects. He was appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Brian Howe.

Mr Moore said he could find no substantive publications to Professor Walker’s name.

“”So how did he get appointed professor?” he asked. “”It followed a donation to the University of Melbourne by a major developer who happened to get a major controversial project through when he was Minister for Major Projects.
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1994_12_december_vitab02

The ACT TAB was unlikely to meet its debts because the Vitab deal, the ACT Auditor-General reported yesterday. The report said ACTTAB had lost $3.5 million arising from the Vitab agreement and was now unlikely to meet its obligation to repay the Government which had underwritten the loss.

Under the agreement ACTTAB gave the Vanuatu-based Vitab access to its betting pool (which in turn was linked to Victoria’s) in return for a percentage of turnover. The deal turned sour when Victoria cut the ACT out of its pool and ACT dividends fell or became erratic. Vitab then sued ACTTAB which settled.
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1994_12_december_virtue

Virtue is having its 15 minutes of fame in America _ well, 40 weeks of fame on the New York Times best-seller list, actually. A book by William J. Bennett called The Book of Virtues has been on top of the list for 40 weeks and it to be published in Australia this month by Bookman Press.

The book is a collection of “”moral” stories illustrating what Bennett calls the ten main virtues: self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty and faith. Its aim is to teach children character.

In America, the book has sold 1.4 million copies and the publishers hope a success of similar proportion in Australia _ say 100,000 copies.
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1994_12_december_trivial1

Here is trivia stuff. general news; oz politics; canberra & foreign; sport; entertainment.

Alas, the answers have been numbered but not separated. if you ask peter knight nicely i’m sure he’ll do it. question compilers like to keep them together while working them up.

Strongly urge that someone with nouse like travis. max mc. or ken may subs them; there are bound to be nit-pickers about.
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1994_12_december_stevoref

In one of his last major tasks as an MLA, Abolish Self-Government Member Dennis Stevenson, will write the “”No” case for the February 18 referendum. The 2000-word “”No” case will be posted to all electors by the Electoral Commission.

However, electors might not get a “”Yes” case.

Mr Stevenson said yesterday that he was against the referendum because it had been proposed by politicians, not the people.

The referendum is to entrench the result of the referendum held at the last election in 1992 at with 65 per cent of voters approved the Hare-Clark system of voting. If the new referendum is passed, the basic elements of the system can only be changed by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly or by another referendum.

At present, the 1992 result can be over-turned by a simple majority of the Assembly.

All 16 other MLAs voted for the referendum. The Liberal and Labor Parties are expected to meet in the next two weeks to discuss preparation of the “”Yes” case.
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1994_12_december_states

Next year will see elections in as many as six of the eight states and territories. It sounds like a lot of democracy, but in fact it shows the Australians are largely at the mercy of state politicians who have shown a consistent propensity to rig electoral systems to their own advantage.

The vagaries of dates and electoral systems in the Australian states and territories and have a distinctly undemocratic flavour that favours incumbent governments of either complexion. It contrasts unfavourably with the position in the US where fixed terms and one-vote one-value prevails.

The tragedy is that despite calls from two Royal commissions about the importance of fair elections the rorts and attempted rorts continue.

The following looks at each in order of electoral timing.

ACT: Election on February 18. Federal legislation fixes the date as the third Saturday in February every three years and fixes the number of members. A referendum is likely to entrench various key elements of the voting system which will make the ACT the most securely fairest system in Australia. The referendum was proposed after the Labor Government attempted to pervert the spirit of the advisory 1992 referendum by proposing party voting.
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1994_12_december_starligh

Redevelopment of the Watson Starlight Drive-In site in its present form could cost the public up to $17 million, according to Moore Independent candidate Mark Dunstone.

Units on the site, called Karelia Park, are being sold of the plan, subject to approvals.

Mr Dunstone said yesterday that the present lease-purpose clause was for tourist accommodation and had not been varied for the new development. The development had not been approved and betterment tax had not been paid.
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