Page 5557 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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They are not. They are taking the money and running. They are quite happy to point the finger at the club sector and say, “Do more.”
It is time the Greens held the government, their coalition partner, to account and said, “When are you going to do more?” Perhaps that is where we need to start. But we should do it in an informed environment where we know what the problem is. We all know the spread of sports betting. We have all just sat through the finals season where in every ad break we get, “Bet on this; you can bet on this; you can bet on this.” Do we know how many problem gamblers use that? Do we know how many problem gamblers have an ACTTAB account? Do we know how many problem gamblers go to the casino? Do we know how many problem gamblers go to the racecourse? We do not. We do not know. We do not have the most accurate data. Mr Barr can get up and correct me, but I would like to wait for the report that is coming. He has got the report. Okay.
The minister is acting from a position here where he has data that he has not shared with the community, and that is a bit of a shame. But the report needs to be public before we do this, simply because we need to get this right. We need to make sure that those that need the assistance get the best assistance that we can give them, to help them address their problems, to give the clubs an opportunity to help them address their problem, to give the government an opportunity to help them address their real problems and the community to do the same.
To simply say the answer is a tax is not an answer. It is incredible oversimplification of a very complex problem and it is not worthy of this place, it is not worthy of those that need the assistance and it is not worthy of the club sector that does an inordinate amount of good in our community. The club system is a legitimate industry. It is a legal industry. It is a licensed industry. The clubs operate within the constraints that we put on them. And to do this now I believe is not the best way to help people get ahead.
We heard some reforms from the minister. All the minister is doing is putting on a new form of protectionism. It is very bold to say that we are going to reduce the cap by the 143 that have not been allocated. Whoopee! That is brave; that is right out there. There is no consideration of what should really happen with the cap and a path forward over a period of time. What he is saying is that there will be extra taxes for the club industry and there will be a package of measures. We need to see all those. Discussing this today when we have just had a bit of a teaser from a package of measures from the government is not satisfactory. All it is is protectionism on the part of the Labor Party. What they are doing is saying: “We have got our poker machines. We will not give them up.” And, what is more, I bet in this sheer protectionism there will not be a single gaming machine surrendered by the ALP or indeed the Labor clubs to assist in problem gambling. There will not be a single machine surrendered.
And remember: this is all happening at a time when gaming is on everybody’s minds. And what did the Labor club do? They went out and asked for more machines. We all know the conflict of interest that the government has. We all know that it is addicted to the revenue. And, let us face it, the second biggest beneficiary of gaming profits after the ACT government is in fact the ACT Labor Party, because they get their
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