26 September 2013

Thinking about flogging off ACTTAB

| johnboy
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acttab

We’re waiting for the media release but the Chief Minister has tweeted she’s thinking of getting rid of the local betting agency:

Hopefully they think hard and fast and do it while the concern is still worth something.

It’s a pity as the wind’s been clearly blowing against local agencies for a very long time.


UPDATE: The Chief Minister’s media release is now available:

The PricewaterhouseCoopers Study outlines a compelling argument for a sale. The Study states that ACTTAB faces increased competition, and that its ability to grow in the face of this is constrained by its size. The Study states that under the status quo ACTTAB would require considerable Government investment in coming years to remain competitive, which would deliver minimal extra revenue.

While no final decision has been made, the Government has agreed to further consider a sale. As by far the smallest TAB in the country ACTTAB is vulnerable to increased competition, and as it continues to lose market share the value of the business will continue to decline. However, a sale can help secure the future of ACTTAB and its employees, and ensure it is better placed to respond to market changes as part of a larger organisation.

From here, we will consult with staff, industry and unions about the Study, and in particular about the sale option. We want to hear their views about the future of ACTTAB.

The PWC Study is also available.

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If what you are talking about was the scheme years ago to setup an offshore arm (think Bob Hawke had something to do with it), then it was Supertab that threatened to cut ACTAB off. ACTAB was and still is today part of their pool rather than the NSW TAB.

No, that was Hawke trying to set up Vitab in the 90s. this was more recent, whilst ACTTAB is not involved in NSWTAB pools, that TAB was going to stop betting on ACT races if ACT were going to set up an environment to encourage larger corporate bookies. that would have meant reduced income for the race club and jeopardised its future

Gismondo said :

It’s outside of the report’s scope i imagine, but what it fails to say is that the ACT could have been the leader in this field and attracted those corporates/international to the ACT (rather than NT) and made the ACTTAB a bigger player in market. But NSW TAB would have nothing of it, and threatened to cut ACT from its funding model if it did so.

hence we now have a poor asset which will most likely be sold to the same NSW TAB for absolute rock bottom dollar.

Oh well done!

If what you are talking about was the scheme years ago to setup an offshore arm (think Bob Hawke had something to do with it), then it was Supertab that threatened to cut ACTAB off. ACTAB was and still is today part of their pool rather than the NSW TAB.

I always thought the TAB was an effective way of recovering some of the prodigious welfare spend.

Get rid of it. TABs were started by state governments in the early 1960s to try and put SP bookies out of business. Over the years private enterprise has become involved in the industry and now does the job a lot better. Surely it is unethical in this day and age for the government to be running a betting shop.

It’s outside of the report’s scope i imagine, but what it fails to say is that the ACT could have been the leader in this field and attracted those corporates/international to the ACT (rather than NT) and made the ACTTAB a bigger player in market. But NSW TAB would have nothing of it, and threatened to cut ACT from its funding model if it did so.

hence we now have a poor asset which will most likely be sold to the same NSW TAB for absolute rock bottom dollar.

Oh well done!

Chop71 said :

caf said :

I’ll only support this if they allow Club Poker in the ACT at the same time.

….. and blow up the pokies …. and bring back live music ………… not going to happen unfortunately

“And I think to myself, ‘what a wonderful world'”.

caf said :

I’ll only support this if they allow Club Poker in the ACT at the same time.

….. and blow up the pokies …. and bring back live music ………… not going to happen unfortunately

I’ll only support this if they allow Club Poker in the ACT at the same time.

ACTTAB has been a basket case for as long as anyone can remember; recent upgrades have been WAY overdue, but they still trail the field. It seems they just can’t compete, even if they wanted to. Which I suspect they don’t.

They sooner they just lie back and let NSWTAB (Tabcorp) swallow them up, the better.

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