Page 153 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 May 1989
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is the immediate presence of that library. I would at this point like to say how very, very helpful the members of the library staff are. Whether we are dealing with the matter of a gambling casino or whatever, I do thank the ACT Administration for those arrangements.
Could I, as a preliminary, accept the shorthand word "casino", but in view of some controversy on this matter might I note that when Walter Burley Griffin used the word "casino" he used it in its 19th century sense - that is, a place of light entertainment, of gathering, of music. Indeed, the term "gambling casino" came about so as to make a contrast with the term "casino" - "casino", of course, being an Italian word meaning "little house" in one pronunciation of it, and it has a rather unfortunate connotation which I will not go into here. But the connotation of the word in 19th century America, in Chicago and the east coast of the United States, was a place of music and light entertainment. You will find that, for instance, at Newport in Rhode Island today. So I will now use the word "casino" in that sense, but it has nothing to do with Walter Burley Griffin's plan.
It is a misconception that I am opposed therefore to casinos. I would like to see a Walter Burley Griffin type of casino - who knows - next to the War Memorial or wherever he would have placed it. You will be surprised to hear that I am not opposed to gambling casinos either. I am not going to bare my soul and heart in this Assembly, but I can assure you that I have been to many such establishments around the world, and indeed have been a member of a club which was a gambling casino club. I do not now favour them, but I am not opposing them where they are appropriate, where they have their place, where they may be considered appropriate.
I welcome Mr Moore's motion because this motion would give us again a chance to look at this matter. I urge the Assembly that we have been without a gambling casino, or a casino, for the entire history of this Territory and to feel that it suddenly has to be rushed into being is not proper. It certainly is not proper for a Government and an Assembly that wants to have open government, consultative government. That is what we are about, and I do welcome Mr Kaine's support on this matter.
I do not wish to take up the time of the Assembly unnecessarily with a detailed analysis of the Caldwell report, but I do think it is necessary to say something about the Caldwell report in order to make the case for an inquiry by this Assembly. The Caldwell inquiry was set up by the ACT Administration, and may I pay some tribute to it on that, to the then Minister and also to Paul Whalan and Keith Lyon. I recall that once I saw the members of that Caldwell committee I applauded its membership. Its chairman is an excellent person in that field. Mark Dickerson is one of the world experts on compulsive gambling. Jan McMillen of Queensland is now President of
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