Lotto contract opposed

Press, 21 February 1987, Page 2

Lotto contract opposed

By

PETER LUKE

in Wellington

The Opposition has made a last-ditch effort to prevent the Interim Lotteries Commission from signing a $lO million contract with a United States company, G.T.E.C.H. The contract, for the supply of computer terminals, was the subject of a snap debate in Parliament on Thursday. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Mr Gair, wrote yesterday to the chairman of the commission, Mr C. B. Pottinger, asking that no Lotto contracts be signed; In his letter, Mr Gair said that the bill to legalise Lotto was still before a select committee

of Parliament and it might be some time before it was reported back to the House. “The whole purpose of select committee hearings becomes nonsense if action is taken which presumes an outcome ahead of the proper Parliamentary process.” Mr Gair also said in his letter that' several New Zealand tenderers for the contract were unhappy about the selection process. Although he did not know whether there was any substance to their complaints, Mr Gair said the n select committee hearing would be an opportunity for the grievances to be heard. He urged the commis-

sion to delay signing any contract until Parliament had decided by its conscience vote when and how Lotto would be introduced. During the snap debate on Thursday the leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, said that the G.T.E.C.H. contract would be signed yesterday. A spokesman for the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Tapsell, said yesterday that no contract had been signed. There was still a lot more work to be done before a contract was finalised, he said. Opposition arguments against the contract were not the reason for the failure to sign, he said.