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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (3 December) . . Page.. 4450 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

that from zero to $8,333 the rate would be nil; from $8,333 to $16,666 it would be one per cent; from $16,666 to $83,333 it would be 22.5 per cent; and over $83,333 it would go up to 30 per cent. So, basically, what this meant was that some of the small- to medium-size clubs actually ended up better off; but it ended up that it would cost the larger clubs significantly more dollars. In New South Wales the overall revenue increase was projected to be approximately $74m a year.

If the same regime were implemented in the ACT the result for a full year would be approximately $4m in additional gaming machine tax. It would mean that some 19 clubs would pay a higher tax; 36 would pay less tax; and 14 would pay no tax at all. All clubs pay some level of tax at the moment. So, we are talking about approximately $4m. It is interesting, Mr Moore, though, that New South Wales actually have not implemented it yet. They were planning to implement it on 1 September, but it appears that the club lobby group managed to have it put off till 1 February.

MR MOORE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. It deals with the power of the club lobby group, indeed. How can you justify the loss of this equitable and sensible opportunity to increase revenue, considering our $200m-odd operating loss? Can you comment on the appearance or public perception that this revenue was forgone by your Government, which had committed to the Licensed Clubs Association's no-change policy, because there was a donation of $12,000 to the ACT Liberal Party?

MRS CARNELL: The operating loss for the ACT in the year just finished was $153m, not $200m. We actually improved a lot. There is no doubt that we still have an operating loss, and one that does have to be addressed. The reason that my Government determined not to put up poker machine taxes at this stage is that the club industry is one of the largest employers in the ACT. To increase taxes could put jobs at risk and could see, I suppose, the number of job opportunities in the industry diminish. I also believe that it is dangerous for any jurisdiction to start spearheading revenue measures via gambling. The ACT has the lowest level in percentage terms, I think, of gambling revenue in Australia, or very close to the lowest. I believe that is probably not a bad thing for Canberra. Some States, like Victoria, have really, I suppose, started to escalate the amount of money that they get from gambling. I wonder whether that is a sound basis for any State or Territory to run a budget on.

Mr Speaker, I think I answered yesterday the second part of Mr Moore's question with regard to dollars from the club industry. The ACT Liberal Party gets some $12,000 - or did last election - from the Licensed Clubs Association. The Federal Liberal Party gets significantly more than that from the Australian Hotels Association. I do not believe there is any conflict of interest for the ACT; but the ACT Government did determine that, in the community interest and in the interests of jobs, it was best not to put any jobs at risk, particularly in the current climate.

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