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Published 13 days ago • loading... • Updated 13 days ago
'Not Possible to Know' if Lottery Pact Was Best Deal
The auditor-general said the government used exclusive negotiations and limited public visibility, while internal analysis said a competitive process was unlikely to do better.
Auditor-General Andrew Greaves released a report Wednesday criticizing the transparency of Victoria's secret 40-year, $1.145 billion lottery licence extension with The Lottery Corporation.
The government negotiated exclusively with TLC for almost three years to secure a premium payment, aiming to keep state net debt below $200 billion.
While a commercial adviser valued the licence at about $1.372 billion, Greaves noted it was impossible to confirm whether a competitive process would have yielded more.
Gaming Minister Enver Erdogan defended the process, though the opposition criticized the secrecy, calling it a "vain attempt" to keep net debt under $200 billion.
The report identified no integrity issues but recommended Treasury develop new rules for disclosing major commercial decisions, which the department accepted in principle.