Page 5555 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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in our particular industry sector. Vikings Group operates in a highly regulated and challenging environment
He goes on to say:
The days of the “super profits” are well and truly gone. To illustrate this comment, our surplus for 2009/2010 has come in at a meagre $40,000 and that is only after we have incorporated gains on asset sales/impairment of $159,000 (non operational) into our profit line. As a comparison 6 years ago our surplus was $3,640,000.
This is what people need to be aware of before they vote for this legislation today. To fix one problem and create another problem is not the answer, and that is why we need to wait for the prevalence study and that is why we should have all of the packages on the table before we make decisions, because the one thing the club sector in particular has asked for over the last five or 10 years is some certainty. There has been reform after reform after reform, expenditure after expenditure, which has never been recouped because this place keeps changing the playing field.
Clubs are an important part of this city and we all acknowledge that. We all value their contribution and the facilities they provide. Perhaps we should take a deep breath, instead of saying: “Oh, I’ve had a thought. We need to have something for problem gambling. Here is a new tax. That is a good answer.” Why don’t we consider, as a whole, what it is we as legislators do for the people of the ACT through this legislation? It is the people of the ACT who, in the main, get the benefits of this.
The Vikings president’s report says:
The club industry is certainly facing some interesting times, some notable clubs across Australia have either closed or have faced significant losses over the past couple of years. In the ACT, the forecast of a reversal of the trading downturns since 2006 has not been realised. As has been mentioned in past reports, the Vikings Group has weathered this storm thanks mainly to some sound planning that realised a strong balance sheet and cash position.
We all know some clubs did not survive the storm, and the question is: what is the long-term future of the club industry and the community that they support when we put this bill, Mr Barr’s package, Mr Corbell’s package and the Gillard-Wilkie package on their shoulders? And, face it, the club industry is this community.
The club industry has been promised by this government reform for at least the last three years and nothing has happened. The Chief Minister went to the clubs’ annual conference three years ago and said, “We will look at essential issues like threshold and we will get back to you,” and they still have not. Nothing has happened. As politicians, we all know that, certainly in government, if somebody comes to you, you say, “Go and ask the clubs; they’re rich.”
You cannot continue to treat the club industry as a milch cow and then make it the whipping boy by saying, “You’re the problem here, so we are going to tax you,” and then expect it to be some sort of community Santa Claus once a year and give out its
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