Buses are being booked and placards written as the licensed club industry in the electorate of Eden-Monaro amasses its troops to wage battle against the proposed gambling reform, which if legislated, would threaten their survival, the industry says.
The industry has sent out a rallying call to the 42 clubs in the electorate plus hoteliers to join a protest rally in Braidwood on Wednesday, July 13 to air their concerns and heighten awareness to the plight of rural clubs.
The aim of the rally is to inform the federal government and the public on the severe and crippling impact that the proposed reform to take effect in 2014 will have on rural clubs, hotels and their communities.
Noel Robertson, general manager Pambula-Merimbula Golf Club, said that the effect on smaller clubs would be profound but that had been largely ignored by the media and politicians who focused on the impact the reforms would have on the larger clubs. The purpose of the rally was to shift that focus and publicise the plight of small clubs and he anticipated that the golf club would send a busload to support the cause.
“It is a folly to assert that all clubs are rich; local clubs are finding it a battle to make ends meet.”
He said that a sluggish economy and a downturn in tourism made it a struggle to survive. Any suggestion that the clubs were rich was a gross misrepresentation of the truth.
The club industry was a major employer on the coast and the impact on jobs would be “severe” should the mandatory pre-commitment scheme on the poker machines become law.
Mr Robertson said that the instigator of the scheme, Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie,” was not on the page” of the small rural clubs.
He said the badly flawed scheme with its dubious claim it will stem problem gambling had the ability to wreck the club industry, close clubs and cost jobs.
Mr Robertson said the technology to retrofit the poker machines to accommodate the new scheme did not exist. The work would need to be undertaken by a licensed technician. It would cost the club $600 a machine totalling between $4-500,000 – “this is an investment that we can’t afford.”
“I must question the validity of the claim that the reforms will reduce problem gambling as gamblers will be able to set their own limits.”
He said clubs acknowledged the need to tackle problem gambling and had put measures in place to counter it and these had shown to be effective.
Mr Robertson predicted that clubs would lose recreational gamblers because they wouldn’t bother to register. (Under the reforms customers wanting to play the pokies would be required to register to get a card - no card – no betting.)
“This scheme will be very costly for the clubs, severely dent our ability to support community programs; it will force clubs to close which will undermine the fabric and structure of the communities in which clubs are an integral part.
“Clubs along the coast will be dramatically affected and changed.
“It will have a tremendous multiplier effect across the community and the economy,” Mr Robertson said.
“This is an argument about a body of legislation posed by one individual with no proof it will contain problem gambling but the impact on our small communities will be incredible.”
Merimbula RSL Club secretary manager, Michael Mutsch, said preparations were underway to attend the rally, a bus was being booked and the club was calling on members and the broader community to support it.
“If the legislation is given the nod it will be a real disaster for the club and hotel industry as well as for the community in which they belong,” Mr Mutsch said.
He stressed the point that the club industry was not against pre-commitment gambling in venues, but the move had to be voluntary and in keeping with the current harm minimisation strategies the clubs had implemented.
“Problem gambling was at 0.8 per cent in 2002, and in 2006 it was 0.4 per cent, due to the good work the clubs and hotel industry is doing to stem problem gambling.
“Problem gambling is an illness; it’s a mental state. People who are problem gamblers will gamble no matter what.
“I can’t see a mandatory pre-commitment scheme working; they will just gamble in other ways. There are over 2000 sites for online gambling and they offer incentives for people to gamble. The worst thing is they can use their credit cards to do it, whereas club patrons can’t do that.”
“We are doing the right thing; that does not mean we can’t do more, but the proposed reform is no guarantee that the problem will be stemmed.”
Mr Mutsch said that the club industry was prepared for an ongoing fight.
“We are not lying down, the club and hotel industries will be decimated if the reform goes through.”
He predicted that some clubs would close and he was aware that some were already working on a three-year exit strategy.
Club Sapphire will have strong representation at the rally and is organising a bus to transport supporters to Braidwood, CEO Damien Foley said.
He said the rally would provide the opportunity to demonstrate the level of community disappointment at the prospect of “these ridiculous rules which will have a much broader impact than just on Merimbula”.
“Wilkie and (independent senator Nick) Xenephon don’t have a proper appreciation of what the clubs’ role is in the community and the effect of closing and damaging clubs will have in the community.
“If they did, they would recognise that clubs were 100 per cent behind problem gambling and they have failed to recognise the work that clubs have done in this area.
“The problem has been halved in the last few years.
“While there is still a lot of work to be done, what they are proposing will have no positive impact in that regard but it is very clear that it will have an unintended impact on the viability of clubs all over Australia.
“No doubt regional and rural communities would be the hardest hit because the clubs play a key role in those communities, as a provider of facilities and funds. Clubs are not-for-profit organisations and any profits are invested back into improvements of club facilities, job creation and support to the local community.”
Mr Foley said that clubs had introduced a whole range of measures to assist problem gamblers by the provision of support services, publicity within the club and self-exclusion arrangements.
“There is an issue with problem gambling but at least it is supervised in clubs whereas with online gambling there are no disincentives in place.
“If clubs are taken out of the economy or if their viability is reduced it will be no good for anyone,” Mr Foley said.
All three club managers said they appreciated the support of federal member for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly who had shown that he understood the negative impact that the legislation would have on clubs and their communities.
“To his credit Mike Kelly understands our concerns but at the end of the day he won’t have a vote on the legislation as Labor votes as a party,” Mr Robertson said.
The News Weekly asked Dr Kelly for a comment but at the time of going to press he had not returned the call.
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