Page 2115 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 June 2015
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
clause 2(2A) proposed by Mr Smyth and substitutes a new revised new clause 2(2A), which provides that I must notify the commencement of phase 2 at least six months before it actually commences.
I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name to Mr Smyth’s amendment No 1 and table a supplementary explanatory statement to the government amendments to Mr Smyth’s amendments [see schedule 4 at page 2139].
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (5.09): Mr Smyth’s first amendment proposes to fix a date for the commencement of phase 2 which is at least two years after the commencement of the trading scheme. I have discussed this proposal with the minister for gaming and I have received advice from her that the economic development directorate considers that such a fixed period would be likely to stymie the period of trading by causing licensees to postpone trading. I feel it is reasonable to take the advice of the directorate, which developed the trading scheme in concert with industry. For this reason, I will not be supporting this part of Mr Smyth’s amendment.
In recent days Mr Smyth and I have spoken regarding this bill and his proposed amendments. He raised concerns, as he has articulated here today, that the clubs industry has for too long been subject to a changing regulatory environment, to their detriment. I am well aware that the club industry has had significant input into the development of this bill and, indeed, has been lobbying the government for a number of years to institute a trading scheme. The minister is now doing this at the industry’s behest. I feel that claims of a changing regulatory environment ring hollow on this occasion.
With regard to part (b) of Mr Smyth’s amendment, which also calls for the public notification of the commencement of phase 2 at least 12 months prior to that commencement, Minister Burch’s amendment undertakes to provide that notification six months prior to commencement rather than 12 months prior, which I consider to be a reasonable time frame. I think it is a reasonable approach in the circumstances. I will be supporting Ms Burch’s amendment to Mr Smyth’s amendment and then supporting the revised version.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (5.11): I want to speak to Minister Burch’s amendment. You run an organisation. You sign contracts for things like cleaning or servicing of machines perhaps. I am not aware of anybody that signs a service agreement for six months. That is what they will have to now take into account, because the horizon now only extends six months for the clubs if this gets up. This will have a dramatic effect on their business planning and on the business model that they adopt. There is training of staff. Do I train staff when I do not know whether six months from now I will need them because the government may just arbitrarily come in and take machines off the floor of my club? Will I renovate? I am not sure, because six months from now the government will come in and potentially take a significant number of machines from my club. Will I build a new building? I might shuffle some of my machines from other venues. I do not know because my six-month window is all I have in which to make a decision to build something that we are going to move machines into that six months from now I might not have.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video