Page 3487 - Week 11 - Thursday, 15 November 2007
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shame that that is the case. In defence of one of my old clubs, the Polish club, I am delighted to say that they do not have poker machines. They are branching out and doing something different. It is up to them to make it work; I think they can make it work quite easily because of the nature of that club. The rugby club at Barton is a club that is moving away from a reliance on poker machines. They form a much smaller part of its income. But for the foreseeable future gaming machines are going to play a very big part. The reason we have this community contribution is to reflect that fact and to make sure that clubs do what is required by the community. The figures show that they clearly do.
The fact that most of the contribution goes to sport is due to the history of clubs. It is quite reasonable. It is one of the major contributions to a healthy society in Canberra. Long may that be so. It is something that I will defend as long as I am in this place. Have a look at Hansard from 2004.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Planning, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Minister for Industrial Relations) (4.37): I find myself in agreement with a lot of what Mr Stefaniak has just said. That in itself is an uncomfortable position to be in, but when he is talking sense I am prepared to agree with him. However, I want to respond very quickly to a couple of the issues that Mr Stefaniak raised in his commentary on this matter.
I draw Mr Stefaniak’s attention to the Liberal Party’s election return. There is an item there from the Tuggeranong Valley rugby club, so let it not be said that the Liberal Party does not receive funding. I believe it is about $2,500. But it is one of the more significant donors. It was not in-kind support through rent; it was one of the major contributors.
I hope to correct the record on something that Dr Foskey said. She made reference to the city club. I presume that she meant the city Labor Club, but, for the record, let me clarify that the Labor Club does not own the city club. That is in fact a soccer club. But of course the Labor club does operate the city Labor club as part of its group of clubs. That is just to clarify that, Mr Speaker.
As we have heard—as the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have outlined—the licensed club industry does provide significant contributions to the community through sporting and social clubs, including ethnic and multicultural clubs. We have heard from previous speakers how the club sector adds immeasurably to the quality of life that we enjoy here in Canberra. We have seen how clubs are responsible for providing a range of important social infrastructure within the community. It is important that we keep a broad perspective on the influences and contributions that the club sector makes.
The Chief Minister was quite right to point out Dr Foskey’s narrow and misguided view of the club industry in the ACT. Her view—a naive view, I believe—that the current community contribution scheme is failing is clearly not supported by the facts; the benefits that the club industry contributes to the ACT economy cannot be underestimated. As the Chief Minister indicated, there is employment of over 2,000 staff—not to mention the staff employed by other businesses on which the industry depends. That is significant in anybody’s language. Importantly, the industry provides
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