6 May 2009

Assembly stymies Government efforts to sack the EPIC board

| johnboy
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[First filed: May 05, 2009 @ 12:45]

Brendan Smyth informs us that the Assembly has voted down ACT Government efforts to abolish the board of Exhibition Park In Canberra (aka EPIC, aka “The Showground”).

    “This is a great decision for common sense; EPIC has been performing very well under the current Board and now will be able to continue to do so,” Mr Smyth said.

    “Instead of thwarting the EPIC Board, as has occurred during the past five years under the Stanhope-Gallagher Government, Mr Barr should now take this opportunity to be a true advocate for EPIC.

    “Mr Barr should support the vision and strategy of the Board, as it seeks to make EPIC an even greater venue – consistent with the master plan that has been developed by the Board,” Mr Smyth said.

UPDATED: The Greens’ Shane Rattenbury has now explained why the Greens opposed this move:

    “The Government had, to date, failed to provide enough good reasons for dissolving the board – a group that has a wide range of business and community expertise in Canberra – and integrating the management of EPIC into the department,”…

    “The suggested saving of $50k of public money is commendable, but the Government hasn’t appeared to yet give consideration to other options that might deliver the benefit of community and business input, while making the administrative savings they seek.”

Shane has, however, expressed some joy at the move of EPIC into the care of Andrew Barr as Minister for Tourism.

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Gungahlin Al3:43 pm 06 May 09

I guess that goes to show that the local ALP still has a way to go in understanding the meaning of minority government. Ask first… Make sure your argument stacks up… Consult…
All these new concepts to grapple with…

Burkes08: baby-bathwater?

The government now has a problem in that they have transferred EPIC to TAMS in the 2009-10 budget. They will probably need to re-do the budget papers for both TAMS and EPIC now..

Thats too bad. EPIC needs to be more accountable to the ACT Govt. I have witnessed some very dodgy goings on in relation to cash within that place.

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