Shadow racing minister Dean Winter has alleged that Tasmania’s racing integrity commissioner approached a greyhound trainer six times about the government’s voluntary exit scheme, at one point allegedly referring to a figure of $300,000.
Winter said the trainer, Anthony Bullock, had never applied to leave the industry.
Commissioner Sean Carroll denied Bullock had been offered $300,000 and declined to discuss his conversations with participants in the scheme.
Winter put a series of alleged approaches to Carroll at a parliamentary committee hearing on Friday.
He said they were based on a statutory declaration provided to him by Bullock.
He asked whether Carroll had told Bullock in a phone call in July that he had “hundreds of thousands of dollars” sitting on his desk for him to exit the industry.
“No,” Carroll told the committee.
Winter also asked whether Carroll had approached Bullock at Hobart’s greyhound track in August and told him he had “a cheque on my desk that starts with a three”.
“I can’t recall the exact details of the conversation,” Carroll said.
Asked whether he had told Bullock in September ‘that’s all they’re prepared to offer’ after Bullock said $300,000 was not enough, Carroll said he could not recall.
Carroll said he would not discuss any conversation with any participant about the exit scheme.
“No one’s received an offer at the moment that they can accept,” he said.
He said figures had been mentioned to a number of people, but no formal offer had been made because the scheme’s deed and funding pool were not yet finalised.
Winter said Bullock had filled out no paperwork and had not expressed interest in leaving the industry.
He also questioned whether discussing exit payments was within the commissioner’s legislated functions.
“It feels to me, according to the legislation, that you’re acting well outside of that,” Winter said.
Carroll said he had received a written request from the government to develop a voluntary exit scheme and the act allowed him to perform other functions as prescribed.
“From my point of view, that’s not outside the remit of my duties,” he said.
Independent MLC Meg Webb suggested participants would have expected Carroll to discuss possible amounts with them.
Carroll said participants had been “driving these conversations” about what they could expect to receive.
Carroll said $4.8 million had been set aside in the budget for the transition.
He said he expected the deed for the voluntary exit scheme to be in place within the next couple of weeks.
Committee members said participants must sign up to the scheme by December 31.
