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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-29 Daily Xml
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LOTTERIES COMMISSION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:05): As a supplementary to the minister, can the minister rule out the privatisation being sold to Coles or Woolworths, and what will the minister do to ensure that small newsagents, particularly in rural areas, are not, as a result of this, losing very important cash flow?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (15:05): We are not privatising, as I have already said; we are entering into sublease arrangements. So, I can assure the honourable member that we are not going to privatise, that we are entering into subleasing arrangements. Indeed, our agents that sell our tickets are very important partners in this, and we value them very highly. That is why the government has put a series of protections in place to assist our agents through these transition arrangements.

In relation to the Coles supermarket, I think what he is trying to ask me is: can we make any guarantees, under the sublease arrangements, that sales will not be extended through supermarket chains, whereas currently they are not? I think that is the question that the honourable member is—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: Yes.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: It's sad, isn't it, Mr President, when I have to articulate their questions for them and then answer them. Anyway, not to worry, it is Friday. They are obviously very tired. The bottom line to that question is that, currently, the lotteries operates on equivalent to a commercial basis. They enter into arrangements with agents that are commercially viable. There has to be a good business case to extend the selling arrangements to newsagents. As we know, not all newsagents are agents for Lotteries, only some are, and only those that can put up a good business case and are commercially viable.

It is clear under current arrangements that extending it to supermarkets is not commercially viable for Lotteries, otherwise they would have done it already. I guess the case I am putting is that, if the agents continue to be commercially viable and run good businesses, that is their best security in terms of the long term. It means that they are then going to be well placed to continue operating as agents into the future.

In terms of newsagents, I know that some have expressed concerns around these licensing arrangements, and I know that the government has put a number of things in place to ensure certain protections to assist in their concerns. The government has given some assurances. We have given assurances around the issue of intellectual property being associated with SA Lotteries, that the product brand will stay with government ownership and that contracts for all agencies will be reset to five years from the date of transfer to the private operator. Five years is a reasonable tenure for the transition to occur and for agencies to be able to demonstrate their case. There will also be an option to extend their licence contracts after that, an also current commissions paid to agents for the sale of SA Lotteries' games will be maintained, so we have locked that in for them as well.

The Treasurer has made it very clear that the government will do all it can to maximise the economic benefits to the state and protect agents' business interests and also growth opportunities.

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