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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 6 Hansard (18 June) . . Page.. 1981 ..
MR STEFANIAK
(continuing):One of the arguments put forward against extending anything to do with poker machines is: you don't want them in any sort of licensed premises, in a take-away grog shop or in a restaurant. Quite so. And that is why subsection (4) is included in the bill. The Gambling and Racing Commission-and, indeed, the Liquor Licensing Board-looks at a fairly simple test, and that basically is that licences are not to be issued for premises in which an on licence applies, unless the on licence is actually stated to be for a certain purpose, and that is the primary purpose of running a bar or tavern.
Also the conditions provide that the installation of the machines must not dramatically alter the nature, character or purpose of the premises, which it certainly would not do if it is a pub or a tavern but it would if it is something like a restaurant. The person must hold an on licence or a general licence. Indeed, they look at things like the volume of liquor disposed of on a premises exceeding 30,000 litres over 12 months, and also a minimum opening time of eight hours. These conditions apply to the granting of licences and the granting of liquor licences to premises at present, and they are important in considering whether a place should be entitled to a licence for machines. Hence, the primary purpose must be for running a tavern or a bar. I want to make the point quite clear that this excludes restaurants and it excludes supermarkets, grog shops and the like.
The final amendment-the second part of this bill, which is not dependent on the first part-is concerned with the reservation of machines. It basically means that some 5,008 machines are reserved for clubs out of 5,200 on licensed premises all up. According to the figures up until yesterday, that reserves 192 machines for hotels and taverns. If this legislation is successful, it is then up to the commission to see who gets what.
From what the Treasurer told me yesterday, there may currently be only 5,005 machines in clubs. So be it. If my legislation is passed there will be three additional machines for clubs and 192 for pubs and taverns. Having talked to the commission and the Treasurer, I doubt very much if anything will occur in the next week. If there are any problems, I would certainly be happy for that to be amended in order to reflect the status quo. But from what the Treasurer tells me, I think there are now effectively 5,005 machines in clubs, not 5,008 in terms of what the commission did yesterday. So, again, that is quite consistent.
Mr Quinlan
: 5,065MR STEFANIAK
: Yes 5,065; and there are 5,068, 60 of which were the 60 class Bs in the six hotels. So that, again, is fine in terms of what I have in my bill. That is not affected by the current situation, as of what the commission did yesterday at its monthly meeting.Mr Speaker, I commend the bill to the Assembly. It is not going to lead to a proliferation of poker machines. It is going to lead to a lot more fairness, though, for these very important businesses. Many of these undertakings are small, struggling family businesses which are all involved in the entertainment industry in Canberra. Certainly, hotels are a very important and essential part of tourism and the little suburban taverns are a very integral, essential part of local communities.
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