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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 2985 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Ms Tucker really hit the nail on the head when she spoke about tax rates. Clubs get a very special rate of company tax and poker machine tax. The ACT now has the lowest poker machine tax rate in Australia for clubs. ACT clubs also have a monopoly on poker machines, the only monopoly left in Australia now. I think it is very important that everybody in this Assembly and everyone in the community look very seriously at those two very special benefits that our clubs have. Under national competition policy but also under fairness and equity principles, which I know that the Greens and Michael Moore look at very seriously, we have to look at what those special benefits clubs are getting actually produce for the community.

Ms Tucker made the point that it is often very hard for private sector function rooms, restaurants and taverns to compete directly with clubs. That can often be the case, because the clubs have very special circumstances - a very different tax rate, a very different poker machine tax rate and a monopoly on poker machines. If the club industry, with those benefits, is competing with the private sector, I believe it has a special obligation to show that the benefits being given to it lead to a real benefit not just for club members but for the wider community. I am confident that people who use taverns regularly would perceive that their local tavern does a real community service for them. Taverns and hotels have told me they contribute to the community as well, which is the reason I am very happy to have them covered and declare what they give to charity, which I know that they are very happy to do.

What we need to be able to do is weigh up from the information on the table exactly what the community is gaining by our giving very special tax breaks and a very special monopoly to one group of organisations, the clubs. I take that very seriously, the Liberal Party take that very seriously and it appears that the crossbenches do too. Without this sort of information, I do not believe we can make that important decision on whether a very low company tax rate, a special poker machine tax rate and a monopoly for clubs are worth it and are giving a community benefit. With the passing of this legislation requiring the reporting of charitable donations, I think we will have more of the information we will need.

MR BERRY (Leader of the Opposition) (7.59): I see that the ACT Government has taken on a new role - company taxes. Mrs Carnell seems to be a little bit askew about her powers in relation to taxes. The ACT Government cannot affect company taxes. Mrs Carnell also completely ignores the community benefit which flows to members of clubs through their membership of clubs. She very clearly wants to separate the benefit which flows to the community outside the normal operating arrangements of the club for its members. That means that what Mrs Carnell wants to do is to influence clubs to have a good record of contribution to the community by taking away benefits from their members and giving them to other groups in the community.

I am sure all the tens of thousands of club members will be terribly enthusiastic about that. They will also be very enthusiastic about the fact that they are not treated as members of the community anymore; by this legislator, they are treated in some other way.

Mrs Carnell: They get the benefits of the facility they built.

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