❓ The Minister for Small Business addresses concerns regarding the impact of TAB privatisation on local TAB agents, highlighting government measures to protect small businesses, including compensation and continued contract rights. They also mention a steering committee for industry input and a point-of-consumption tax to support the TAB network.
AnsweredQoN 761Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TAB —
PRIVATISATION
761. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Small Business:
I refer to the racing reform package
announced by the McGowan Labor government earlier this week. What impact will
this have on local TAB agents, and how has the government ensured that local
small businesses are protected under these historic reforms?
PRIVATISATION
761. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Small Business:
I refer to the racing reform package
announced by the McGowan Labor government earlier this week. What impact will
this have on local TAB agents, and how has the government ensured that local
small businesses are protected under these historic reforms?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question
because often when people talk about the TAB and the racing industry, they
overlook the small businesses associated with the TAB outlets. I want to
particularly address the matter for the purposes of responding to reports about
comments that were made by Jeff Miles, the president of the WA TAB Agents
Association, in various media outlets the day before yesterday in response to
the announcement of our package of reforms. One of his comments was —
The association calls on the
government to include measures in the bill of sale to protect the 120 small
businesses operating retail TAB stores across the state, as the TAB transitions
from public to private ownership.
He said that on WAtoday. He made
other comments about the package but he said they conditionally welcome it. I assure
Mr Miles, with whom I have met, both in government and opposition—I am
sure that many members, certainly on our side of the house and many on the other
side, have met with Mr Miles or other representatives of the TAB association in
recent times—that the government was very cognisant of the need to take
their circumstances into account as we went through this process. They were
consulted by my office, the agency and Racing and Wagering WA. It must be said
that in 2016, under the previous government, a clause in their agreement that
assured them of a buyback opportunity in the event that they were forced out of
the business was removed. Currently, there is no obligation on the principal
racing authority—RWWA—or the government to provide any form of
buyback in any way to TAB agents. We are not obliged to do that, but we have
announced, as we did when we announced the package, that we would accommodate
reintroducing a form of support for people who are forced to leave. We said
that will apply for three years post–the sale. They will be guaranteed
a minimum amount of compensation, which will be linked to the size of their
agency. If the agency closes in the first three years of the arrangement, they
will be entitled to a form of compensation up to $100 000. That is not
currently extant; they will get nothing thanks to the circumstances we
inherited.
We have also ensured certainty for
the future, primarily for the TAB and the TAB outlets. We have tackled the
foreign-owned corporate bookmakers who are taking an increasingly large
proportion of the overall betting activity in this state and paying no tax. We
are also addressing the loss to sports betting increasingly growing where the
TAB is unable to compete because of a lack of resources and the scale and
technology of its competitors. We are addressing that through the sale process.
We will set up the industry in Western Australia with an infrastructure fund
and a flow of revenue, through a point-of-consumption tax that is the most
generous in the country, which will ensure that the product that TAB outlets
are selling is sustainable. Those are significant contributions to the support
of the TAB outlets and the TAB network. I also put on Hansard that,
during this forthcoming process, we will ensure that the current rights under
their contracts will remain in place, removing any uncertainty about the
direction of the future TAB operator. In all, we have taken into account—this
is on the direct guidance of the Premier from the very outset of this process—that
the TAB agents should be taken care of. I am open to the suggestion from Mr
Miles that we continue collaboration and close discussion during the process.
There will be a steering committee with RWWA representatives, to provide
industry input following the conclusion of the introduction of
point-of-consumption legislation, and throughout the TAB sale legislation
preparation. I am open to the suggestion that the TAB outlets have
representation on that steering committee.
because often when people talk about the TAB and the racing industry, they
overlook the small businesses associated with the TAB outlets. I want to
particularly address the matter for the purposes of responding to reports about
comments that were made by Jeff Miles, the president of the WA TAB Agents
Association, in various media outlets the day before yesterday in response to
the announcement of our package of reforms. One of his comments was —
The association calls on the
government to include measures in the bill of sale to protect the 120 small
businesses operating retail TAB stores across the state, as the TAB transitions
from public to private ownership.
He said that on WAtoday. He made
other comments about the package but he said they conditionally welcome it. I assure
Mr Miles, with whom I have met, both in government and opposition—I am
sure that many members, certainly on our side of the house and many on the other
side, have met with Mr Miles or other representatives of the TAB association in
recent times—that the government was very cognisant of the need to take
their circumstances into account as we went through this process. They were
consulted by my office, the agency and Racing and Wagering WA. It must be said
that in 2016, under the previous government, a clause in their agreement that
assured them of a buyback opportunity in the event that they were forced out of
the business was removed. Currently, there is no obligation on the principal
racing authority—RWWA—or the government to provide any form of
buyback in any way to TAB agents. We are not obliged to do that, but we have
announced, as we did when we announced the package, that we would accommodate
reintroducing a form of support for people who are forced to leave. We said
that will apply for three years post–the sale. They will be guaranteed
a minimum amount of compensation, which will be linked to the size of their
agency. If the agency closes in the first three years of the arrangement, they
will be entitled to a form of compensation up to $100 000. That is not
currently extant; they will get nothing thanks to the circumstances we
inherited.
We have also ensured certainty for
the future, primarily for the TAB and the TAB outlets. We have tackled the
foreign-owned corporate bookmakers who are taking an increasingly large
proportion of the overall betting activity in this state and paying no tax. We
are also addressing the loss to sports betting increasingly growing where the
TAB is unable to compete because of a lack of resources and the scale and
technology of its competitors. We are addressing that through the sale process.
We will set up the industry in Western Australia with an infrastructure fund
and a flow of revenue, through a point-of-consumption tax that is the most
generous in the country, which will ensure that the product that TAB outlets
are selling is sustainable. Those are significant contributions to the support
of the TAB outlets and the TAB network. I also put on Hansard that,
during this forthcoming process, we will ensure that the current rights under
their contracts will remain in place, removing any uncertainty about the
direction of the future TAB operator. In all, we have taken into account—this
is on the direct guidance of the Premier from the very outset of this process—that
the TAB agents should be taken care of. I am open to the suggestion from Mr
Miles that we continue collaboration and close discussion during the process.
There will be a steering committee with RWWA representatives, to provide
industry input following the conclusion of the introduction of
point-of-consumption legislation, and throughout the TAB sale legislation
preparation. I am open to the suggestion that the TAB outlets have
representation on that steering committee.
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