Page136 - Week 01 - Thursday, 3 December 2020
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that is the agenda over the coming four years. It is important to be transparent about that. We were transparent about it in the election campaign. The policy was out there for everybody to see. I do not recall seeing a policy from the Liberal Party on the club sector at all.
Mr Parton: There very much was, Mr Rattenbury, very early on in the piece.
MR RATTENBURY: I must have missed it. It was such a gem that no-one actually spoke about it publicly, but that’s okay. Nonetheless, this amendment makes a couple of factual updates to the early part of the motion and then notes the plans for the government, moving forward. I commend the amendment to the Assembly. We are committed to working with the club sector to build a sustainable future for clubs, as I spoke about in question time yesterday. I move, by leave:
(1) Omit (1)(d), substitute:
“(1) (d) that clubs maintain and operate a portion of the ACT’s sports and recreation infrastructure;”
(2) Omit (2), substitute:
“(2) further notes that the ACT’s community clubs have been impacted by the COVID pandemic as evidenced by a reduction in gross gaming revenue in the last financial year of $40 million with the likelihood of further reductions in the current financial year;”
(3) Omit all text after (2), substitute:
“(3) notes that seven clubs have closed since 2014 for a range of reasons;
(4) further notes the range of measures implemented over the past term that have significantly reduced the number of gaming machines operating in the ACT, while helping clubs take steps to diversify their revenue streams, including by:
(a) reducing the number of poker machine licenses from 4 938 to 3 888, a reduction of over 20 percent, through an innovative cash support and a land fees and charges offset scheme to help clubs develop their land holdings;
(b) offering a community club grant of $10 000 to every small and medium club to provide immediate assistance to fund cost-saving measures, such as putting solar panels on a club roof;
(c) establishing an ongoing tax rebate for small-to-medium clubs of 50 percent of their gaming tax revenue;
(d) establishing a new small clubs liaison role to work with and assist clubs to navigate regulatory and administrative requirements;
(e) instituting quarterly tax lodgements for small clubs to ease their administrative burden; and
(f) reviewing and reforming the ACT Community Contributions Scheme to improve the transparency of funding, and to maximise this benefit to the community;
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