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Lotteries sale confusion: govt should release its legal advice
Friday 02 April 2010
Greens MP and gaming spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on the Treasurer Eric Roozendaal to publicly release his department's legal advice which allegedly claims that allowing Tatts Group access to unclaimed lotteries prize is valid under amendments made to the Lotteries Act in 2009.
"With conflicting legal advice about the validity of allowing Tatts Group to have this $200 million slush bucket of unclaimed prize money, it's incumbent on the Treasurer to release his advice for public scrutiny," Ms Rhiannon said.
"When changes to the Lotteries Act were debated there was no suggestion that the government would allow the private buyer of NSW Lotteries access to unclaimed prize money.
"A straightforward reading of the now controversial s27A suggests the unclaimed prize money would stay with the government.
"The Treasurer claims he has obtained legal advice that makes it clear that this part of the sale is valid. To provide certainty, he should do the right thing and release this advice to the public.
"Any laws are open to interpretation and legal advice is well known to vary depending upon who is paying the bill.
"This is a government which has pushed through new freedom of information laws, heralding a new era of government.
"This sell off of a significant public asset is beginning to look very dodgy.
"Premier Keneally needs to build public confidence in Labor's administration.
"Directing the Treasurer to release this legal advice would be the best thing to do if Ms Keneally wishes to restore credibility to her government around this sell-off.
"Keeping this legal advice under wraps will only build the perception that something dodgy is going on," Ms Rhiannon said.
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