Page 3109 - Week 09 - Thursday, 13 October 2022
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In Estimates, we had a bit of toing and froing over the $5 bet limit that is at the centre of these changes. The minister conceded that he had no idea what percentage of bets in the ACT are above the $5 level. So, indeed, there could be none. There could be no bets over $5. What ever happened to evidence-based decisions?
The minister, in answer to some of my questions, shared with us the public survey done in 2019, in which the government asked Canberrans what they thought the maximum bet level should be. So these were just the Canberrans who responded to this survey. Probably quite a number of them had never set foot in a gaming area, but it does not matter, I mean, you have to ask everybody. The 2019 ACT Gambling Survey examined attitudes towards maximum bet limits on electronic gaming machines. For those who believed the bet limit should be changed, the average suggested limit was $6.92. That is a little bit tough to go with. So we have ended up at $5, because this group of Canberrans believed that the maximum bet limit should be $6.92, which is going to go to the nearest sensible number. And that is your evidence.
Do you we know how many people bet above this limit? No, have not got a clue. Have not got a clue. But all those people out there, they said, go with about $6.92. They said, “All right. Okay. We will roll that out. Let us go with it”.
Can you imagine, dare I say it, if we ran a survey asking the people of Canberra what the salary of an MLA should be? Imagine if we did that! And if indeed the consensus was, about $36,000, is that what we would go with? I am just asking. I am just asking.
I would hope that serious consultation continues in this area between clubs and the minister. I have already noted that this issue is so galvanizing that it has brought the two warring clubs groups together. I would urge those club groups, and individual clubs, to engage with their Labor members in particular, because you know that on this side of the Chamber we know what is going on. You know that we are across what is happening. You know the Greens, by the looks of what is going on, want to close the doors. I mean, I do not know, maybe after you have dealt with horse racing. So get in the ear of your Labor member and see if you can bring the CLAG unstuck. Because these changes are not going to work, as flagged by the minister. There is no way that they will work.
In closing, and I know we have covered this, but I just wanted to say, in closing, I find it bizarre that this week in Canberra we had that purely ideological virtue signalling debate about horse racing. Over the border in New South Wales they are preparing for the Kosciusko this weekend. It is the world’s richest race exclusively for country trained horses. So in the cities and country towns up and down the eastern seaboard they are preparing to cheer home the winner of the Kosciusko. In Sydney they are opening up their hotels and restaurants and bars to take advantage of all of the benefits that come from such a massive event. While that is happening in Sydney, Melbourne is rolling out the Spring Racing Carnival. The Cox Plate is on next weekend at Mooney Valley. The majority of the nation will stop on the first Tuesday of November when the gates fly for the two-mile handicap that we know as the Melbourne Cup.
I wanted to note that the rest of Australia is getting on with the job of being Australia and they are laughing at us!
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