The Allan government is facing fresh scrutiny over its $1.14bn deal to extend The Lottery Corporation\u2019s exclusive Victorian licence for another 40 years, after a rival operator questioned the process and said competitors were not invited to bid.<\/p>\n
Premier Jacinta Allan on Wednesday insisted the licence extension \u201cwent through a tender process\u201d, a day after the state budget <\/a>forecast a $1bn surplus<\/a> for next financial year. <\/p>\n But in a statement to The Australian, rival company The Lottery Office said it was unaware of any bidding process. <\/p>\n \u201cTo our knowledge, no other operator was invited to engage in or bid for the Victorian licence,\u201d the company said. \u201cWe believe \u00adarrangements of this scale should be subject to a transparent, competitive process \u2013 a single licence model is not necessary. Competition drives better outcomes for consumers, and lottery players should have access to choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Allan said earlier on Wednesday \u201cthere was a full and open process\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cThe arrangements that have been struck through this \u00adlottery process have put the terms of the licence in a position that is consistent,\u201d she said. \u201cNSW has a 40-year term, South Australia has a 40-year term. Queensland, interestingly, has a 65-year term.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, based on advice, through Treasury processes and within the requirements of the existing contract, there was a review process that was required, it went through a tender process.\u201d<\/p>\n While The Lottery Corporation operates Australia\u2019s major state-licensed lottery brands, The Lottery Office is a separate Northern Territory-licensed online retailer that offers access to a range of lottery products including international lottery draws. The Victorian opposition has accused the government of a secret deal with The Lottery Corporation to make its finances look better in Tuesday\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n But Ms Allan said the government would have delivered a surplus regardless of the contract, saying there were many decisions that go into a state budget. \u201cThe Victorian economy is over $700bn large, so there\u2019s always a series of decisions that are taken in setting your budget,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In The Lottery Corporation\u2019s statement to the ASX on Tuesday, the company said the $1.14bn would be paid in two instalments \u2013 $250m on July 3 and $985m on October 1 \u2013 which led to suggestions it was underpinning next \u00adfinancial year\u2019s surplus.<\/p>\n But Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said on Wednesday it would be spread over the full 40 years of the agreement. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2026 not reflected in the surplus going forward as a lump sum,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cSo the money comes in, but because of the way the accounting treatment of this type of transaction is, it flows through the forwards over the duration of the 40-year extension. So anybody that suggests that this is contributing to the surplus is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy comes as the Allan government has been forced to defend accusations that it has failed to rein in spending ahead of the November election.<\/p>\n Ratings agency S&P on Tuesday warned that Victoria\u2019s pre-election spending surge risked undermining its fiscal recovery, cautioning against optimistic economic assumptions and further election-year commitments.<\/p>\n The Allan government added $13.8bn in new spending in its latest budget, pushing net debt towards $199.3bn by the end of the decade as it fights to secure a historic fourth term.<\/p>\n S&P Global Ratings analyst Rebecca Hrvatin said while Victoria\u2019s fiscal performance was gradually improving from protracted deficits and rapidly increasing debt, the recovery had been \u201cdrawn out because of decisions to spend most of its positive revenue surprises over recent years\u201d.<\/p>\n But Ms Symes waved away concerns about the state\u2019s spiralling debt and that the spending surge could fuel inflation, saying it was being used on \u201cproductive \u00adinfrastructure\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s an appropriate reason to borrow money. It is appropriate to borrow money to build infrastructure to meet population demand and, indeed, help grow the economy,\u201d Ms Symes said on Wednesday at a Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Melbourne Press Club event.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have is a commitment to reduce net debt as a share of the economy. To stop investment in infrastructure has a detrimental impact on your economy and on the people and the living standards of Victorians.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether the Victorian government took any share of the blame for adding to inflation through spending, Ms Symes said Tuesday\u2019s budget contained $17.7bn in new spending, which she said was \u201cmuch skinnier\u201d than the $27.8bn of new spending in the budget last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Allan government is facing fresh scrutiny over its $1.14bn deal to extend The Lottery Corporation\u2019s exclusive Victorian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,23,133,21,7182,7167,7173,7181,7159,1646,5524,7183,7171,7160,7165,7180,7166,1938,120,7161,7170,7177,7176,7178,7162,7169,7179,7168,7172,121,7175,7164,7174,7163,68],"class_list":["post-5868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-austrlia","tag-competition-drives","tag-credit-rating","tag-election-year-commitments","tag-exclusive-licence","tag-international-lottery-draws","tag-jacinta-allan","tag-jaclyn-symes","tag-james-newbury","tag-lottery-brands","tag-lottery-players","tag-lottery-process","tag-lottery-products","tag-net-debt","tag-northern-territory","tag-oceania","tag-pandemic-era-borrowing-rolls","tag-positive-revenue","tag-pre-election-spending-surge","tag-pushing-net-debt","tag-ratings-agency","tag-rebecca-hrvatin","tag-sampp-company","tag-secret-deal","tag-shadow-attorney-general","tag-single-licence-model","tag-south-australia","tag-spending-announcements","tag-state-budget","tag-tender-process","tag-upfront-payment","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}