Page 2450 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 9 August 2016
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Greens politicians in this chamber are the political beneficiaries of enormous amounts of money flowing in through poker machines, taking all that money to fund their political campaigns. On the other hand, they are going out to local clubs in our town and hitting them hard. It is disgraceful, and it shows how distant this government are from the people of Canberra that they dare to stand up and defend these policy decisions while taking the rivers of gold from their own clubs and those of the CFMEU. They are enacting policies and making decisions that are hurting all the other clubs in this town. It is an abomination. The clubs are in uproar about it, and rightly so.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (11.43): The government has continued to deliver on its key strategic policy priorities for the Racing and Gaming portfolio over the past year. In gaming, the government provided a submission in May 2015 to the public accounts committee inquiry into elements impacting on the ACT clubs sector. Following a considerable development period, the majority of reforms under the gaming machine reform package commenced in August 2015. In addition to these specific priorities, additional red tape reduction initiatives have been implemented that benefit both racing and gaming industries.
The gaming machine reform package delivered tax relief for smaller clubs by increasing the minimum tax-free threshold for gaming machine revenue. The centrepiece of the package, however, was the introduction of a trading scheme which allows gaming machine licensees to buy and sell machines from and to one another based on the open market approach. That is exactly the position of government that has been put to the casino in relation to any poker machines for its establishment later.
The number of poker machines in the territory will lessen over time, and in any trading the number of poker machines will lessen. The only people that can provide poker machines to the casino are the clubs in the ACT. The scheme allows clubs to divest themselves of unwanted machines and to relocate proceeds to activities that may help clubs diversify their income streams away from gaming revenue.
The forfeiture provisions have also resulted in a significant drop in the number of gaming machines operating in the territory, and these reductions are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. One really good example of this has been the Burns Club in Kambah. They have invested in a star bistro program which has become very popular. They also have plans to open a childcare centre in what will be a great location. My understanding is that the club’s membership has tripled since this move.
Following the government’s consideration of the recommendations arising from the PAC inquiry and its response tabled on 17 November, a whole-of-government action plan was developed to guide implementation of the recommendations agreed or agreed in principle by government—25 out of 46 recommendations. The government noted 10 more recommendations and did not agree to 11.
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