Page 3356 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 19 August 2009
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In my electorate of Ginninderra the Labor Party controlled 31.1 per cent of the gaming machine market as of 30 June last year. To narrow the electorate down to the district of Belconnen, by excluding the Gungahlin suburb of Nicholls and the village of Hall, the ALP market share of gaming machines was 38.5 per cent. How many other businesses are there in Canberra that have a 38.5 per cent stake of their industry in Belconnen? I propose that there are not many at all.
How great is the problem of expenditure on gaming machines in the ACT? According to the September 2007 review of the maximum number of gaming machines allowed in the ACT—
Mr Seselja: On a point of order, Madam Assistant Speaker: it is getting very difficult to hear my colleague Mr Coe. There is a lot of talk. If you could ask people to come back to order, it would be very helpful.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Le Couteur): Thank you.
MR COE: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. The per capita expenditure on gaming machines in the ACT was $746 in 2004-05. So each adult in the ACT spends $746 of their post-tax income per year on gaming machines. Each couple is pouring just short of $1,500 into poker machines. That is a huge average. I know lots of people that would not put anywhere near that amount into a machine. So I am concerned at how many people there are that are going way above this figure, raising the average to $746. It would be interesting to see analysis of the market to reveal a median figure of expenditure on poker machines in the territory.
Let us look at the number of gaming machines per 1,000 adults as per the data in the report I just quoted from. In the ACT we have 20.78 machines per 1,000 adults, the highest in the country. The Australian average is 12.22 machines per 1,000 people. We are not far off double that. In addition, we have a relatively dense population where everyone in the territory would be, at most, a few kilometres from a poker machine.
In my electorate of Ginninderra, there were 68,358 people enrolled to vote for the October 2008 election. In June 2008, the Labor clubs operated 367 machines in the electorate out of 1,178 across all clubs in Belconnen, Nicholls and Hall. Assuming the number of machines did not change a great deal in the few months from 30 June 2008 to the election in October, the ALP alone had 5.35 machines per 1,000 voters in Ginninderra. That is almost the same number as the total sector size per 1,000 people in Tasmania or the Northern Territory.
What do all these figures mean for the Labor clubs and the ALP? They mean a lot of money is at play. Will the ALP be treating the privilege and responsibility of operating gaming machines in a way that is for the community’s benefit or will they be treating it as an asset for them to profit from?
Section 14(1) of the Gaming Machine Act 2004 clearly states that machines are not designed to be used as a device for individual gain or commercial gain by someone other than the club. There are questions about the application of this clause in this case. The people of Canberra, through the Assembly, deserve answers.
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