Page 1201 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2015
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Paragraph (1)(b) lists 10 things, but I can think of many more beyond those. What is the impact of government gaming reforms on the future of the sector—that is, their revenue and profitability? I have said in this place a number of times that if we added up the asset base of all of the clubs it would be $600 million, $700 million, $800 million. In previous years the total return on that investment in some cases has been at or below the $2 million mark. It is hard to get an accurate figure, as different clubs have different reporting periods. But on that level of investment, banks have trouble lending to clubs. Some clubs have said to me they find it difficult to get finance because of the lack of certainly. We have to look at their revenue and their profitability if we wish them all to survive and if we wish all regions to have a spread of clubs.
Legislation and regulation—everything we do in this place affects them, whether it be increasing the tax rate or putting another burden on them in regard to the most recently emerging issue. We need to legislate and regulate carefully. There is the issue of taxation and charges. How much tax should they pay? What is a fair level? Certainly the government has a right to levy taxes but, at the same time, are we undermining the things we value? A big issue is land development and sales. How do we help the clubs who have had a lot of changes in the last 10 to15 years—whether it be through health issues, problem gambling issues or local amenity issues—to continue, and what happens with the land? They are all sitting on very valuable leases. They are community sites. How do we smooth the process, if it is necessary, to allow redevelopment of some kind that is appropriate but always with a view to making the clubs viable long term? Problem gambling is always of concern and something this place should always have an interest in.
Diversification and mergers—how do we deal with small clubs being swallowed up by big clubs? Is it a case of little clubs being swallowed up or is it a case of the little clubs being saved? A number of the ethnic clubs, which were very profitable in the 60s and the 70s with the influx of migrants—particularly migrants coming from the Snowy scheme back to Canberra for long-terms jobs when the Snowy scheme finished and Canberra was in a building boom—are struggling. Often those communities have not grown. In fact, many of those communities have shrunk. I recall the Hungarian community had a club that was very viable for a number of years at Narrabundah, but that community did not grow and the younger generations were not as interested as those that founded the club. They were able to sell and redevelop. There is a cultural trust for the Hungarian community where the profits from that sale assist in keeping the Hungarian culture alive in the ACT, and we need to look at those issues as well.
New business models—how do they change? What are the technologies that are emerging and how do we address those issues? There is a lot of finger-pointing and claims of clubs being dens of inequity where people lose their money through problem gaming, but how do you regulate those that do that at home? The clubs and poker machines have come in for a fair whack, and the issues have to be addressed. I am not diminishing the issues and the impact on those affected by them. I am sure all members get emails, whether here or at home, from online gamers who offer you $50 if you sign up now—“get your first 100 spins free” but then it is on your credit card.
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