 |
|
  The Rolls Royce Of LotteriesThese rising tensions spilled over dramatically on 19 February 1987 when Opposition leader Jim Bolger, in a snap debate in Parliament, claimed to have been 'devastated' when he heard on the radio that the GTECH man was about to arrive and sign the equipment deal, long before the select committee even looked like finishing its hearings. Taking up the cudgel, John Banks, who had wanted lottery to be run by the private sector using TAB facilities, described the whole business as 'a scandal by installment, from day one'. Nobody was exempt from his subsequent tirade. He accused Tapsell of being a 'puppet of his bungling bureaucrats' who from the outset had hijacked Lotto with 'incestuous little deals' with GTECH negotiators. He castigated appointees Veal and Burnett as incompetent, described GTECH's equipment as faulty and overpriced, and claimed the company was involved in a major bribery and corruption scandal in the United States.There was no GTECH 'scandal', nor was the Labour government indulging in 'abject cronyism' or 'Mafia-like tactics', yet behind Banks' inflamed rhetoric, there was some substance to his criticism. Since lottery had become a realistic prospect in 1985, a web of political, departmental and commercial intrigue had been woven around its introduction, thanks to the speed with which the whole process had occurred and the reluctance of all parties to keep the public informed as to what was going on. Until May 1987 Tapsell refused to publish the work of the Evaluation Committee on the not unreasonable grounds of commercial sensitivity. But the secrecy surrounding the letting of contracts, that to GTECH in particular, and their timing (before the select committee had finished its hearings) served only to arouse speculation about the cost (considered exorbitant) and the apparent refusal of the interim Commission to sanction the use of New Zealand expertise in the process: Bolger, without the full facts, cast aspersions on GTECH's reputation, chided Tapsell for being both secretive and hasty, and claimed that his 'fanatical determination' to have Lotto established before the election was so that he, Prime Minister David Lange and other senior Labour Party dignitaries 'could be seen grandstanding on television drawing the raffle and hoping for political advantage'. He wanted to know why GTECH had been chosen over the New Zealand-based applicants. Again there was some basis for his complaint; the Chief Ombudsman later ruled that the GTECH decision could have been released publicly without divulging commercially sensitive information, and that an explanation as to why the New Zealand consortiums had not been successful could have been forthcoming. The Opposition constantly claimed that parliamentary procedure had been violated by the government's refusal to wait for the select committee's hearings before sanctioning Lotto. But Tapsell and his colleagues pleaded 'time' -confessing a worry that everything would not be in place in time for Lotto's planned opening on 1 July. Indeed, all the contracts were long since completed before the select committee reported back to the House on 7 April (its long deliberations due, some National MPs claimed, to the 'delaying' tactics of its chairman, Trevor Young, his anti-gambling sympathies well-known). This event was thus anticlimactic, as was the Bill's final reading three weeks later. There were minor hiccups. Graeme Lee, who still harboured grave reservations about the game 'being detrimental to family values', unsuccessfully tried to delay its introduction date by six months. At one stage Jim Anderton sought to ban it altogether, considering it a regressive form of taxation which would victimize the poor and gullible. (He later voted for its introduction.) In the end, 47 members of parliament voted to introduce Lotto while 20 opposed it. Although it was in theory a matter of conscience, the vote divided along party lines, except for seven National MPs who indicated their support. Towards the end, intractable opponents became more desperate. 'Voting for Lotto,' bemoaned Norman Jones, 'will cause more trouble and heartache than one can possibly imagine.' Robert Muldoon saw a racial distinction: 'More than the pakeha proportionately, it will be the Maori who does his dough on Lotto, as with housie.' These were emotional arguments and easily ignored. Given the final go-ahead, the interim New Zealand Lotteries Commission became a permanent body on 1 June 1987. In brief, its mandate was to promote, organize and conduct all New Zealand lotteries; the incumbentsPottinger, Lower Hutt accountant Margaret Fitzgerald, Auckland accountant Lomond Seal, Christchurch banker George Sidwell and Auckland businessman Ian Way-were appointed permanent members. The GTECH project team delivered on time and, as had been promised, the technology proved to be reliable. Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org About The Author: The Clifornia lottery portal. Get the up to date winning numbers of the California lottery and other comprehensive informations about the operation and history of the California lottery: The Board of Control, The Racing Conference, Rolls Royceof Lotteries and much more. http://www.lotterycaliforniaonline.com/ © All Rights Reserved |