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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4519 ..

MS TUCKER (9.05): Let me say "thank you" to those members who are prepared to support our legislation. It is a bit of a surprise, actually. To Mr Whitecross I would just like to say that, of course, I acknowledge that a voluntary code has been put in place. I was interested to hear him say that it has already been done. I was concerned about the voluntary code because no evaluative mechanisms have actually been written into the voluntary code or communicated to me by the Government. I do not know whether Mr Whitecross has done his own evaluation and that is how he knows that these measures have been taken up by all the clubs or venues with machines. Maybe he would like to let me know about that. My concern was that, as there were no evaluative mechanisms in place, it was going to be hard to determine whether or not a voluntary code was adequate.

I will not go into a great deal of detail about all the concerns that we have expressed several times in this place. Obviously, the main reason why we put forward the legislation and the motion is that we are concerned about the increasing reliance of governments of all persuasions on the gambling dollar revenue; the out-of-control growth of the industry; the growth of problem gambling, which, in the ACT, is primarily associated with poker machines; the lack of funding for education and prevention programs; and the inadequate funding for counselling and community support services.

Mr Speaker, gambling is a major and rapidly growing industry. Governments all over Australia are increasingly depending on it for revenue. It is much easier than raising taxes. Governments believe that it is acceptable to the community to increase revenue in this way, and so they continue to support the gambling industry. But there is now a growing concern in the community that the gambling industry is out of control; that governments are not acting responsibly; that politicians are more interested in the money and power of the gambling industry than in the downside; and that society is paying an increasingly high price for this particular activity. The responses to this issue of both Labor and Liberal in the ACT could lead to some cynicism of this nature.

Canberrans spend approximately $800 a person a year on gambling, which is the highest rate in Australia, and poker machines are responsible for the vast majority of gambling expenditure. In 1996-97, the Licensed Clubs Association annual report was showing that poker machines have increased in number from 1,891 in 1986-87 to 3,914 in 1996-97, with a turnover of over $1 billion. The return to clubs was $119m.

I was very interested to hear Mr Whitecross talk about the reckless expansion of gambling. He was actually referring to the proposal to increase access by giving taverns the ability to upgrade their technology. I assume that he was talking about the casino as well. If Mr Whitecross is really concerned about the reckless expansion, I think we need to look at it in the context of the figures. I have just explained that there are over 3,900 poker machines in the ACT. We are talking about 130 that are being proposed. So, the reckless expansion has occurred within the clubs from 1986-87 to 1996-97.

What I am proposing, and I can do this if you will support it - I was just suggesting it to Mr Moore, and he is interested in it - is that we actually put a moratorium on increasing the number of poker machines in the ACT until we have this inquiry which everyone seems to be vaguely interested in. I am happy to draft that for the next sitting week, if Labor would like to support it. So, you can think about that.

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