A$100m for 'pain and trouble' - Not problem gamblers but Tattersall's trustees

Sometimes when my 21 month year old daughter cries or shouts for no reason other than to get my wife or my attention, I say to my wife as if she is talking "Its just so hard to be a baby, Mum. Just eating, sleeping, playing all day - its just so hard." Its in fun as my wife and I are running around madly trying to prepare her food or her bath or something for her while she just shouts for immediate action.

However after reading the front page of today's Herald-Sun my daughter may have a lot in common with the trustees of Tattersall's who have claimed in an affidavit lodged with the Supreme Court that they should be paid $100 million dollars for the pain and trouble of being trustees for the estate. Note that these are the same trustees that don't actually run the company - that is the role of Tattersall's CEO, Duncan Fischer and his executive management team. These are also the same trustees which currently earn more than a million dollars a year plus director's fees, superannuation and two free cars.

The article which is available here details some of the claims that the trustees have made. Apart from detailing some of the business dealings carried out by the trustees, it leads to a second article also published in the Herald-Sun today which uncovers the unethical use of the Tattersall's charitable donations for business purposes.

The "Strategy for Tatts Charity" shows that Tatts have not been selfless with their donations but rather have seen their sponsorship and charitable giving as another strategic tool to manipulate community and business support for their business.

It is interesting that at a time where gamblers are considering going to the courts to reclaim monies lost to the the harm from gambling, the operators are also going to the courts claiming that they are also experiencing harm.

If it is so harmful then why are they in the gambling business?

GG