In a dramatic reversal of the position he declared last night on 7NEWS when (See Barrow Says Stamp Duty Payment is Irregular) he seemed hardly bothered about the transaction, it seems that today Barrow got the sense of a deal that is corrupt from the top to the bottom and made a dramatic turnaround on the issue.
Barrow wrote to the Prime Minister this afternoon, pointing out that the companies registry was privatized in secret, "simply to give the business over to an entity owned by two ministers of government and their friends." What Barrow doesn't say though is that those "friends" he refers to includes a well connected and senior UDP advisor. That aside though, Barrow warns the Prime Minister that the transaction is, "scandalous" and he demands an accounting from the Prime Minister.
We note that the issue of stamp duty on the E-com/Sunshine transaction is curious because there is no waiver of stamp duty in that agreement. But it was waived in the Pillow Talk agreement, which was the precursor to the E-com agreement and is almost identical to it. We say "almost", because in the successor agreement E-com does have to pay stamp duty which, in light of the now exposed revenue sharing formula, seems an addition calculated solely to fatten the accounts of the private registry, even if it is at the public's expense.
