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- 21 October 2004
Belmont Golf Club Ltd Development
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Page: 11865
Mr PAUL CRITTENDEN (Wyong) [5.26 p.m.]: On 19 July 2004 I spoke with the Director-General of the Department of Gaming and Racing, Ken Brown, about Belmont Golf Club. Mr Brown undertook to have a senior officer get back to me. At 2.10 p.m. on that day the Deputy Director-General, Darryl Lowenthal, informed me that he was aware of the Belmont Golf Club issue and departmental officers would attend the 20 July meeting of Belmont Golf Club members. A meeting was arranged with Mr Lowenthal for 19 August. I understood that the contract between Belmont Golf Club and Terrace Tower would have been analysed in respect of compliance with the Section 41J amendments prior to this meeting. Unfortunately, this was not the case. However, a document that I was advised was the contract was passed by officer Peter Freeman to the Department of Gaming and Racing legal officer at that 19 August meeting. I step back in time to 23 July. With respect to Belmont Golf Club, in the Newcastle Herald a spokesman for the Minister for Gaming and Racing was quoted as saying:
No breach has occurred at this stage.
The journalist who wrote the story, Damon Cronshaw, is reputable. Notwithstanding the tabloid nature of the Newcastle Herald these days, I am at a loss to understand how the Minister's spokesperson could make this unequivocal claim, because the department's legal officer did not get the contract until four weeks later, on 19 August. At the meeting on 20 July 2004 club members were informed that a contract with Terrace Tower had been signed on 19 July 2004. Two officials from the Department of Gaming and Racing were present to hear this. The department knew that the contracts had been signed a month before its legal officers saw the contract but allowed the Minister's office to endorse the status quo. The Minister's spokesperson was also quoted as saying:
The Department is still monitoring the situation to ensure compliance with the legislation. The Department has not sanctioned or made formal comment on the matter.
On 23 September I personally handed the Minister for Gaming and Racing a copy of the annual report of Belmont Golf Club Ltd and asked him when he would advise me of the legal status of the aforesaid contract. The Minister's reply to me was, "I don't do the investigating." His office has previously sought to comment on this, and more than three months have elapsed since I raised this issue with the department. Departmental officers should have reviewed the contract by now and, if necessary, got outside experts. If this matter is too complex for the gaming and racing bureaucracy why has not the Cabinet Office intervened or, for that matter, Treasury, where so much policy initiative is generated in relation to so many portfolios? Are they aware of this controversial issue and the full range of financial, legal and political ramifications involved in sensitive coastal development?
This Parliament is worse than useless if it legislates, as it did in respect of the section 41J amendments, and then the Minister with responsibility for the relevant Act cannot or will not determine whether there has been a breach of the legislation within a reasonable timeframe and after a matter is brought to his or her attention. I remind the Minister that in his second reading speech of 14 November 2003 in regard to the section 41J amendments he stated:
… an alarming trend where it appears that private entrepreneurs have sought to gain control over a club's management and operations. In doing so, they have obtained significant financial benefits and in some cases ownership of the club's assets.
I call on the Minister to adduce evidence that this is not the case at Belmont Golf Club. I call on the Minister to come into this Chamber and give at least an interim report about the position of Belmont Golf Club Ltd vis-a-vis the section 41J amendments that he sponsored in this place. I call on the Minister to meet his obligations and report on the contents and legality of the contractual arrangements between Belmont Golf Club Ltd and any other entity in respect of Belmont Golf Club's real property. Tonight is the fourth occasion on which I have raised the matter of Belmont Golf Club in this House, and the members representing the electorates of Charlestown and Swansea also raised it on 16 September.
I do not mind that the Minister does not smoke; I do not mind that the Minister does not like alcohol; I do not mind that the Minister does not appreciate sport, but Belmont Golf Club is a sporting venue that traditionally has been accessible to all people in the community, no matter what their means. The present championship golf course was built by volunteers following a Crown grant 52 years ago for community use. That is why the Minister for Gaming and Racing must do his job and advise the House whether there have been any breaches of the Registered Clubs Act. And if not, why not?. It is a matter of public record that Terrace Tower contributes to the Australian Labor Party and to the Liberal Party. We all know developers only provide donations to political parties in order to promote the democratic process. They have altruistic motives, as I presume does the Minister for Gaming and Racing. I am amazed that no Liberal Party members have raised questions about this matter.
Mr GRANT McBRIDE (The Entrance—Minister for Gaming and Racing) [5.31 p.m.]: I am disappointed by what has been said by the honourable member for Wyong in his private member's statement. I was not advised that he was going to make this speech today, and I would have appreciated receiving that advice. The department has been conducting the inquiry referred to. It has not reported yet, and I cannot reflect on it at the moment. However, I have arranged with the department to reply to the issues raised by the honourable member, and that will be done. I assure the honourable member for Wyong and all honourable members that we are working on a clubs policy in conjunction with the club task force. The issues raised here are issues currently before the club task force, which is determining policy. I would have appreciated some notice, but that is the way it goes in politics. I assure the honourable member that he will receive a reply.
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