Premier concedes TAB may be sold

Colin Barnett said yesterday that the Government "probably will" sell the TAB, his strongest indication yet after previously ruling it out and then putting the agency on a list of asset sales for consideration. The Premier said the Government's first round of asset sales, made necessary by the loss of the State's AAA credit rating in September, would focus on land but the TAB could follow. "I think the Government probably will sell the TAB but it's not going to be in the first group of asset sales," Mr Barnett said.

After the credit downgrade in September Mr Barnett told 6PR "there won't be a sale of . . . the TAB". WA Trainers Association president Michael Grant said the Tasmanian and South Australian racing industries had been "decimated" by privatisation, whereas WA's was performing well.