Page 5983 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010
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30 per cent in 2009. Overall, therefore, while total gambling participation was broadly the same in 2009 as it was in 2001, the proportion of people playing gaming machines and also instant scratch tickets has fallen markedly.
Let us look at some of the spending on gaming. The ANU’s analysis of spending on gambling is also most useful. Spending peaked in the ACT in 2000-01—you go to page 40 of the report—just before spending peaked in Australia as a whole. Spending in the ACT on a per capita basis has since fallen by 21 per cent from $1,164 in 2001 to $918 in 2009. Spending on gaming machines has fallen from $856 to $670, a reduction of 22 per cent.
As to the effect of the new tax, Ms Hunter said that the financial impact of the change we are proposing is not significant. Who did you get that from? That is just fairy floss. That is just made up. If you are a struggling club, it is enormously significant. What the Greens appear to be suggesting is that because the quantum of the funds raised by the new tax at 0.75 per cent is estimated to be $1.2 million or $1.3 million, it is not an issue. I think that demonstrates the complete lack of understanding by the Greens of the commercial world in which the ACT clubs operate.
The era of the super profit from the poker machine is well and truly gone, the ANU report tells you, because fewer people are playing as a percentage and they are spending less. The profits are less. You can see it, Mr Assistant Speaker, in the balance sheets of some of our most notable club groups. One of the largest club groups in the territory did not declare a profit in the last reporting period. For instance, a club like the Vikings had a profit of $40,000. That is wiped out by liquor licensing fees and it is wiped out by this tax.
These taxes will force some of these clubs into the red at a time when we all know, because we have been told, that the clubs are not doing it as well as they used to. As the treasurer of Vikings said, the era of the super profit is over. So it does demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the commercial world. This new tax will be a major impost for some clubs and may even jeopardise the viability of some clubs.
There have been significant changes in gambling habits between 2001 and 2009. The number of adults who gamble declined in almost all jurisdictions, and in the ACT the proportion fell from 73 per cent to 70 per cent. All jurisdictions, except Western Australia, reported declines in the proportion of adults playing electronic gaming machines, with the proportion declining in the ACT from 38 to 30 per cent. There was also a decline in the extent of frequent gambling in the ACT and a decline in the per capita spending on gambling as well.
The report is important. It does alert us to what is happening. It should be considered before we amend and then pass this bill, but clearly that is not going to happen today. If the bill is to go forward today, it is reasonable to put an advisory body in to assist the commission and assist the government. I am amazed that the Greens, aided and abetted by the Labor Party, or the Labor Party, aided and abetted by the Greens—it is hard to know who is in charge in this coalition—do not believe that an advisory body serves any purpose. It is advisory. It is not going to make the decisions. Why are you both so afraid of the commission and the minister getting some advice? Perhaps if
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