Page 6224 - Week 19 - Tuesday, 17 December 1991
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Mr Connolly: Okay, we know what they are; so you do not need to continue. If your views have not changed since last time, that is all we need to know; it is on the record.
MR JENSEN: I think it is important to get it on the record. It is all right for Mr Connolly to waffle on over there and to interject, et cetera. I would appreciate some support, Mr Deputy Speaker.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, members! Let us hear him.
MR JENSEN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I have not changed my views on the proposal on the grounds of either commercial or national significance. In fact, it could be argued that with the moves to establish casinos in Sydney and Melbourne the long-term viability of such a facility without machines must be in question.
The ACT has a well-established club industry. It eventually came to the ACT. Some of us no doubt recall the lunchtime exodus to Queanbeyan before machines came to Canberra. Most of us in this room will remember that. The Queanbeyan Leagues Club suffered considerable losses. Anyone who visits the club now and who can recall those heady days prior to poker machines coming to the ACT will know what I mean. It could be argued that the Queanbeyan Leagues Club these days could be a harbinger for the future of the club industry within the ACT.
All it will take to bring machines into the casino will be the sort of debate that we are having here this afternoon. All it will take is a very simple amendment to the casino control legislation. If the numbers are here it will go ahead, and I suggest that that will be doomsday for the club industry in the ACT. Notwithstanding anything said by the Chief Minister, I do not believe that there is any model for the introduction of a casino into an environment where poker machines have such a hold. Poker machines in the States were introduced in conjunction with a casino, unlike the ACT. Poker machines are only in the casinos; they are nowhere else.
However, I really want to address my concerns about the planning issues of this proposal. I have heard some comment from the Government that the community consultation process will go ahead and that no decisions will be taken until the process has been completed. Fine; that is a fact. That is what the Chief Minister has said. I also note that Mr Moore has supported this procedure. Frankly, Mr Deputy Speaker, we cannot support the pre-empting of the community consultation process in this way. Effectively, that is what you are doing. I am surprised that Mr Moore is supporting it.
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