Crispin Hull

The ACT Opposition questioned yesterday whether former Prime Minister Bob Hawke was to get a future shareholding in Vitab for his role in the launch of the ACTTAB-Vitab deal.

The Leader of the Opposition, Kate Carnell, asked, “”Was he brought in to impress the socks off the ACTTAB Board?”

She was speaking at an inquiry by Professor Pearce into the contract with the Vanuatu-based Vitab and ACTTAB under which ACTTAB gave computer access to the multi-state super-pool and other services in return for a percentage of turnover, enabling Vitab to run phone and other betting on Australian races. He is also inquiring into why the Victorian TAB terminated it super-pool arrangements with the ACT.

The contract led to a successful Assembly no-confidence motion against Sports Minister Wayne Berry last month, causing him to resign.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_vitab11”

The chairman of Vitab, Dan Kolomanski, accused the Liberal Party at the Vitab inquiry yesterday of making false and outrageous accusations under parliamentary privilege.

Professor Pearce is inquiring into the contract with the Vanuatu-based Vitab and ACTTAB under which ACTTAB gave computer access to the multi-state super-pool and other services in return for a percentage of turnover, enabling Vitab to run phone and other betting on Australian races. He is also inquiring into why the Victorian TAB terminated it super-pool arrangements with the ACT.

The contract led to a successful Assembly no-confidence motion against Sports Minister Wayne Berry last month, causing him to resign. During that debate Liberal MLAs accused Vitab principals of having connections with illegal SP book-makers.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_vitab10”

A gloomy picture for ACT racing was painted yesterday by the ACT Racing Club unless the ACT TAB links with another major TAB.

The chair of the club, Bill Bartley, told the Vitab inquiry that the greater proportion of prizemoney, administration and capital costs of ACT racing came from the ACTTAB dividend. If the dividend were jeopardised, ACT racing would lose money which would have significnt flow-on effects for employment and the tourism industry.

Racing was the third-largest employer in Australia, he said. About 60 per cent of horses raced in the ACT came from outside Canberra, attracted by the prizemoney. This was a significant contribution to the visitor industry.

The Victorian TAB has given notice it will cut the ACT’s access to the pool of punters’ funds from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania from August 1 after the ACT entered a contract with the Vanuatu-based Vitab, giving Vitab access to the superpool through ACTTAB computers.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_vitab6”

The ACTTAB said it thought is was the job of ACT Government officials to do probity check on the Vitab proponents and assumed they were doing them, the Vitab inquiry heard yesterday.

The day before departmental and ministerial officers told the inquiry they thought the probity checks were the job of ACTTAB and assumed ACTTAB was doing them.

Professor Pearce is inquiring into the contract with the Vanuatu-based Vitab and ACTTAB under which ACTTAB gave computer access to the multi-state super-pool and other services in return for a percentage of turnover, enabling Vitab to run phone and other betting on Australian races. He is also inquiring into why the Victorian TAB terminated it super-pool arrangements with the ACT.

The contract led to a successful Assembly no-confidence motion against Sports Minister Wayne Berry last month causing him to resign.

The chief executive of the ACTTAB, Philip Neck, told the inquiry the fact that former Prime Minister Bob Hawke was involved with the Vitab proposal ruled out the possibility they were dealing with a fly-by-night operation.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_vitab”

The probity checking of Vitab principals was a matter for the ACT TAB, several senior ACT public servants told Vitab inquirer Professor Dennis Pearce at a public hearing yesterday.

And a former Hawke, Fraser and Dawkins staffer who was head of the ACT department with responsibility for sport at the time, Jeff Townsend, told Professor Pearce that he had had no contact with former Prime Minister Bob Hawke (a Vitab shareholder) about Vitab other than an exchange of pleasantries at the media launch in October last year.

Professor Pearce is inquiring into the contract with the Vanuatu-based Vitab and ACTTAB under which ACTTAB gave computer access to the multi-state super-pool and other services in return for a percentage of turnover, enabling Vitab to run phone and other betting on Australian races. He is also inquiring into why the Victorian TAB terminated it super-pool arrangements with the ACT.

The contract led to a successful Assembly no-confidence motion against Sports Minister Wayne Berry last month causing him to resign.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_vitab4”

A survey of operating systems among Federal Government users was a close run thing. Windows NT 3.1, SCO UNIX and OS/2 2.1 came out with 75 points each overall. Earlier Novell Unix systems, as you would expect, were lower down as was Sunsoft’s Solaris 2.3.

SCO UNIX won on the least-aggro-for-mangers front, topping reliability, standards compatibility, documentation and vendor support.

Windows won on the least-aggro-for-users front with 91 for quality of user interface (81 for OS/2 and 73 for SCO UNIX), and Windows won ease of installation.

Grain-of-salt warning: the survey questionnaire was mailed to 4000 readers of Government Computer News and 217 responded.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_upgrde30”

Night fell in the hills of eastern Nepal. It was utterly dark and silent, yet Nepal is one of the most densely populated countries on earth. The darkness was because there was no electricity and the silence was because there were no cars. It was several years ago and on return to Canberra I imagined a great hand reaching down from the sky and grabbing the roads and pulling them up like spaghetti and with them the cars, the services stations, the car ports and the car parks. And then the rest was compacted.

You could walk or cycle from one end to the other in less time it now takes to drive. And it would be so peaceful.

Such cities will never be built. The car is such a necessary luxury.

It is Public Transport Week. It is always some week or other. (Next week it’s All Those Who Missed Out Last Week Week.)
Continue reading “1994_05_may_transp”

A Russian Journal” are being published this month by Reed Books. The first under its William Heinemann name and the others (both republications) under Minerva.

Does Steinbeck prove the cliches about writing and writers to be truisms?

You have to have human misery and suffering to provide the counterpoint of human sacrifice to make good writing. Good writers have to live in turrets, poverty and financial deprivation. Good writers are awful to their family and friends because they are so single-minded about their work.

Jay Parini, in the plainly titled “John Steinbeck, a biography”, provides enough material to make the case.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_steinbek”

An ACT proposal for citizen’s initiative will become a spark for other states and the Commonwealth, according to Opposition frontbencher Peter Reith.

He said yesterday that he was developing a “”green paper” on direct democracy under which citizens could after collecting a threshold of signatures force a referendum on a new law or to repeal an existing law.

He wanted more public debate.

“”It’s a great idea; it’s like all good ideas, it is simple as anything,” he said. “”But hardly anybody really knows anything about it. Once people understand they will be overwhelmingly in favour of the idea, but it will not happen over night. I want to see people talk about it and understand it.
Continue reading “1994_05_may_reith”

The government-appointed ACT Heritage Council called yesterday for a halt to townhouse development in Old Red Hill until after a report by National Trust president Professor Ken Taylor can be considered.

The chair of the council, Eric Martin, met residents this week. He said he would recommend the delay to the Minister for Environment, Land and Planning, Bill Wood, and the Assembly’s Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee.

A spokesman for the Minister said Mr Wood would met Mr Martin next week.

Government sources suggest the delay will be agreed to, because planners would not want egg on their face if Professor Taylor’s came down against the development.

Old Red Hill Preservation Group members, Ernie Digweed and Ann Howarth said, “”Residents are more determined now to stop the Kingstonisation of Old Red Hill.”
Continue reading “1994_05_may_redhill”