Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY HANSARD 18 June 2003 Wednesday, 18 June 2003 Legislative Assembly—security of chamber ......................................................1977 Gaming Machine (Allocation) Amendment Bill 2003 ........................................1977 Gaming Machine (Appropriate Premises) Amendment Bill 2003.......................1982 Bushfire Inquiry (Protection of Statements) Amendment Bill 2003 (No 2).........1985 Women’s AFL Team—success..........................................................................1986 Insurance Compensation Framework Bill 2002..................................................2003 Questions without notice: Medical practitioners—car ownership ........................................................2007 Visiting medical officers—collective bargaining........................................2008 Power blackouts.........................................................................................2009 Public Interest Disclosure Act ....................................................................2010 Medical indemnity .....................................................................................2012 Medical indemnity—obstetric workload.....................................................2015 Rugby world cup........................................................................................2016 ILO convention on child labour..................................................................2018 Anti-smoking measures..............................................................................2019 Kippax library............................................................................................2020 Blue Gum school .......................................................................................2022 Personal explanation..........................................................................................2023 Privilege ............................................................................................................2024 Insurance Compensation Framework Bill 2002..................................................2033 Legal Practitioners Amendment Bill 2002 .........................................................2047 Adventure Activities (Liability) Bill 2002..........................................................2047 Greenhouse gas emissions .................................................................................2048 Non-government schools—interest subsidy scheme...........................................2059 Fireworks in the ACT ........................................................................................2086 Umbilical cord blood donations .........................................................................2086 Adjournment .....................................................................................................2098 Wednesday, 18 June 2003 MR SPEAKER (Mr Berry) took the chair at 10.30 am, and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory. Legislative Assembly—security of chamber Statement by Speaker MR SPEAKER: Members, you will note that there are some changed arrangements at the entry to the chamber. Yesterday there was an incident where somebody from the gallery entered the chamber and breached the traditional security that we have in this place. I have considered this matter overnight and there are some changed arrangements with the rope line. I had intended to place the bar across the entrance to the floor of the chamber but some members had some concerns, and we will deal with that later. But there are security issues in hand in the secretariat, which I will be considering in due course and which will come to the attention of the Administration and Procedure Committee. Gaming Machine (Allocation) Amendment Bill 2003 Mr Stefaniak, pursuant to notice, presented the bill and its explanatory statement. Title read by acting clerk. MR STEFANIAK (10.34): I move: That this bill be agreed to in principle. The Gaming Machine (Allocation) Amendment Bill is a simple amendment to the Gaming Machine Act. Mr Speaker, in accordance with your ruling, I have brought forward my amendments in the form of a substantive bill. This bill basically faithfully replicates the amendments I sought to move in May, which members I think are well aware of. Mr Speaker, poker machines came into ACT clubs back in 1976. Those of us who lived in the territory at the time would probably recall some amazing analogies, such as the Queanbeyan Leagues Club, which was then a haven for persons from Canberra, having 25,000 members and Queanbeyan having a population of 20,000. I said yesterday in the debate on the cap that whilst there are certain evils in relation to poker machines, as there are with any form of gambling, the money from the machines has been well used by the licensed clubs in the territory. Back in 1984 the current situation was put in place, and basically two class A machines were allowed into taverns and hotels. The class A machines are basically the old slot machines, the fruit machines, and they were restricted by the legislation to a payout of no more than 40 20 cent coins, namely $8. Those machines ceased to operate in the territory, I believe, in 1993 or 1994. The last tavern that actually had them was the Shanty at Woden, run by John Press. 1977 18 June 2003 Hotels with 12 or more beds were entitled to up to 10 class B or class A machines. Class A machines, as I have indicated, no longer exist. You may be able to find some in a couple of pubs in rural England but that’s about it. They do not exist in Australia and have not existed in the territory for about 10 years. There are currently some six hotels in the territory that have 10 class B machines, and they are draw poker machines. There are a further six of those machines out in the licensed clubs. Hotels and taverns are not entitled to any class C machines, which are the normal, modern garden variety poker machines we see in any club in the territory. That is, indeed, a very different situation to what is happening in other parts of the country. Mr Speaker, over many years I have been involved in the club industry as a director of three different licensed clubs. I am well aware of this debate around poker machines, and I am well aware of what I believe are a lot of fallacies in relation to this debate. I can very clearly recall when I was a director of Royals in 1985 to 1988 the debate that was raging about taverns and hotels seeking justice, seeking access to a limited number of class C gaming machines. At that time it struck me that my old club, Royals, would not be remotely affected if the Rose and Crown and Matilda’s Tavern, which were the two local watering holes at Weston, each had two class C machines. Indeed, in those days Royals would often close at two or three, and some of the more intrepid and often the younger members of the club would wander down for a few more cleansing ales, probably rather stupidly, at the Rose and Crown or Matilda’s. Two poker machines would not have made a jot of difference there, nor would they have made a jot of difference to the ACT Rugby Union Club at Barton, which I was also a director of from 1986 to 1987. Perhaps they would not have affected the Polish Club at O’Connor, of which I was up until recently also a director, if there had been a licensed establishment at the O’Connor shops. That club, of course, like a lot of other small ethnic clubs, is not going particularly well. But you are catering in many ways to different clientele. There are some big problems, apart from just the eminent fairness problem, for hotels and taverns. I did a tour some six months ago of all the taverns in my electorate—and there are about 12; we are probably talking about 26 taverns all up. There are not a huge number of hotels. If members look at the second part of my bill they will see what effectively is a reservation of a little under 200 machines for hotels and taverns. So we are not talking about a lot of machines. If my bill is passed we would be talking about probably 3 per cent or so of total gaming machines in the territory. But there are a number of problems. Let me take Federation Square. The owners of the tavern at Federation Square, which is a tourist destination in Canberra, have been operating for about three years. Like all tavern owners, they are struggling. Tourists drop in to enjoy a meal, enjoy a beer and have a little flutter on the poker machines, as they do in their own states. But they leave when they find out there aren’t any poker machines. They say, “We would like to play some poker machines, you don’t have any, where can we go?” The tavern owners lose a fair bit of business because of this. 1978 18 June 2003 From going around my electorate, and having talked over the years to a number of tavern owners, many of whom have since gone out of business, I was struck by the struggling nature of this industry, particularly when you are talking small establishments. For example, the person who runs the tavern at Giralang went without a holiday for some seven years because he just simply was unable to afford to put on a casual. Many of the people I spoke to worked two jobs. If they were married, obviously the other partner worked but in many cases they themselves worked two jobs just to keep what effectively was a struggling business afloat. Until recently the gentleman who ran the Boardroom worked