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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2452 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

During all my time at Kaleen, I have never found the Club, which is located within our facility (and contains poker machines) to be a distraction from users of our pool. In fact, our patrons often visit the Club to catch up with friends before or after swimming in our pool. The Club is a great meeting place, and a great asset to our facility.

I do not believe (based on my own experience) that poker machines at the Belconnen facility would cause a problem for its patrons. We have never experienced any problems at our facility that are attributable to the presence of the Club or because of the location of poker machines at that Club. We have hundreds of kids using our facilities on a weekly basis.

I have to agree with him. I went there a lot with my kids for about a two-year period. I do not think they even knew a club existed. Ben Santosuosso wrote to members as follows:

I write to you as the Manager of Kaleen Indoor Sports, which operates from within the Kaleen Indoor Recreation Centre...Mr Konstantinou has asked me to comment on the inclusion of a Club within our facility at the Kaleen Indoor Recreation Centre.

As the manager of this business for the last seven years, I have worked closely with the Club and have seen it grow significantly. Without the Club, our facility would not be strong as it is today. We have over 200 teams playing at our Centre every week, and a large percentage of them often visit the Club before or after competing socially at Kaleen Indoor Sports.

I believe that the Club is an important asset to the entire facility and represents a key advantage for our Centre over other centres in Canberra.

Finally, Debbi Lette, owner/director of the Jack and Jill Early Childhood Centre, wrote:

Dear members of the Legislative Assembly

Jack and Jill Childcare are located within the Kaleen Indoor Recreation Centre. We have also recently signed a lease to open a new childcare facility at the Belconnen Indoor Pool.

We understand that Ms Tucker is proposing legislation, which will have the effect of preventing the inclusion of Poker Machines within any Club located at the Belconnen indoor pool facility.

As a tenant of the Kaleen Indoor Recreation and as tenant who will be operating the new childcare at the Belconnen Pool facility once it opens, I wish to confirm that we do not believe the inclusion of a Club with poker machines will cause any problems about which Ms Tucker has apparently expressed concern.

I do no recall any incidents at the Kaleen Indoor Recreation Centre that can be attributed to the inclusion of a Club, or to the inclusion of poker machines at the club.

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