Page 3585 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
If you have a limit there is no need to have a method as to how you put it in or to have a control there.
Recommendations 12 and 13 look at entry regulations and whether they should be more contemporary. Recommendation 14 says that the government should consider increasing the community contribution rate from eight to 10 per cent. Most clubs are doing well over that, but let us acknowledge that the clubs were given the leases and the poker machines to serve the community. If they are doing that then let us put it in legislation so that we always keep it that way.
There are concerns from some groups regarding the loss of community land. Recommendation 15 says:
The Committee recommends that there be no net loss of land zoned in the ACT Territory Plan as CFZ.
If some of the leases have to be varied then we should, as a community, seek to make sure that other community land is put in place so that we keep the quantity of community land as it is.
Recommendation 16 needs to be looked at in the context of recommendations 39 and 40 as well. Recommendation 16 says that the government must ensure that recognition of the rights of prior occupants is taken into account when considering development applications. Particularly in the interests of the live music industry, we do not want to zone meaningful community activity out of our suburbs. Recommendations 39 and 40 look at zoning, and particularly at entertainment precincts, and also ask the government to report on the implementation of the planning committee’s report into live community events and on where that is up to.
Recommendation 17 says that the government must also help to combat problem gaming. It says that the government should contribute dollar for dollar to the problem gambling assistance fund.
Recommendations 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 look at the issue of research. What is clear from the research is that we do not know enough, particularly about why people who have a problem with gaming are loath to seek assistance until they are desperate. It would appear that people with heroin addictions are more likely to go and get assistance than somebody who has a problem gaming issue. That is wrong. We need to find out why. There are about 10 dot points on the different issues on which we want research done. When the reports are done we want them tabled in the Assembly. We want to make sure there is close work between the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission, ClubsACT and the ANU Centre for Gambling Research.
In rec 21 the committee recommends that the government re-establish a full professorial chair of gambling studies at the ANU, and in rec 22 we suggest that you might look at the ARC to see whether there are some additional funds to get on with the research.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video