Page 412 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 18 March 2014
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particularly pithy. It is a drop in the ocean in terms of red tape that can be done away with, particularly when most of it has been put in place by this government.
We will support the bill. We are not sure that the government are doing enough for our club sector. We know that the community has invested enormous sums of money into their own industry, and they enjoy that industry, but we have a government that do make it harder. They are clearly still applying Ted Quinlan’s dictum of “Squeeze them till they bleed but not until they die”. We know that even though many of the clubs are now diversifying away from poker machines, which is welcome, many of them are doing it tough. This bill will not do anything to relieve the pressure that exists on our club sector. One can only wait with interest to see what will happen to the sector in the coming budget. Rumours already abound about increased efforts to raise revenue. It will be interesting to see whether, yet again, the squeeze is put on our club sector.
That said, we will support the bill.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.12): This bill aims to reduce the regulation relating to the approvals of financial arrangements for the acquisition of gaming machines or the encumbrance of existing gaming machines.
To the extent that it may make the administrative process simpler without having an impact on the number of poker machines and the level of harm that they cause in the community, I have no opposition to the bill. Given the social impact that poker machines, and through them problem gambling, can have, I think that it is entirely appropriate that this is a regulated industry. This goes a little to the discussion we were having in the previous debate. There is a clear place for regulation, but the administrative changes that are made here are worth while.
Right across the whole gambling sector, there is work that needs to be done to improve support for those that have a problem with gambling. There is work that needs to be done to put in place clearer measures, such as the sorts of measures my federal colleagues have been talking about, with mandatory pre-commitment or limits on poker machine bets. I am more than happy to discuss those sorts of options with any of my colleagues in the Assembly at any time. I have the impression that if I was to hold a meeting on this, I would have a lonely old time of it in this place in terms of looking at further reforms, but, nonetheless, I am an optimist, and I hope that one day we will take further steps in the ACT to provide the appropriate protections for those that do, unfortunately, have gambling problems.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Children and Young People, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Women, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Racing and Gaming) (11.14), in reply: This government is committed to reducing red tape, and the amendments introduced in the Gaming Machine (Red Tape Reduction) Amendment Bill 2013 are part of the ongoing efforts to identify and address provisions which impose unnecessary burdens on businesses.
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