It all depends on keeping the pokies in pubs
If machines are removed, addicts will go online or to casinos, says Frank Morgan
AS the owner and licensee of a number of venues including the Pembroke Hotel in Sorell, I am concerned about the Labor and Green policy to remove gaming machines from pubs and clubs and the effect this will have on our business and the Sorell community.
If gaming machines are removed from the venue, we will be forced to dismiss up to five employees and put all planned renovations for the venue on hold.
Over the past couple of years we have moved the bottle shop next door and that has allowed us to move forward with the renovations we want to make, but we cannot proceed with these changes while we are stuck in limbo and waiting on confirmation as to where the industry is going.
The proposed policy will mean the whole industry’s valuations will change, anyone who is under financial strain or is highly geared in the gaming industry will be under maximum pressure from the banks once the decision has been made.
The compensation package Labor has offered is ill-conceived and totally inadequate to cover a larger venue’s capital loss as a result of the proposed legislation.
The policy has obviously been made by a desperate opposition party who has no understanding of this industry and is using the gaming issue to deflect scrutiny away from the previous disastrous Labor Green coalition in an attempt to win government.
As part of the compensation package the Labor Party will advise experienced operators how to transition away from the loss of gaming machine profits and grow other areas of their business.
This will only create more competition between venues in regional areas and leave non-gaming venues with a competitive disadvantage.
Dan Murphy entering the Tasmanian market is having a major impact on retail liquor and bottle shops, Airbnb is now also having a major impact on the accommodation sector, traditional bar revenues are declining and food is the most difficult part of a hotel business to manage for profitability.
Not to mention the retraining package offered to staff in regional areas would result in them having to travel outside their area to gain employment if jobs were available, which is highly questionable.
The idea that the proposed policy will prevent problem gambling is nonsensical and if gaming machines were taken out of pubs and clubs, people would either go to the casinos or go online.
Labor has predicted upwards of $100 million will flow back into communities and small businesses if gaming machines are removed from pubs and clubs.
This is questionable as it assumes people will not seek other forms of gambling and will instead spend money in their local community when Labor’s own policy document predicts that 70 per cent of this money will flow back to the two casinos or online.
We have got people who currently go to the gaming room who are also gambling online so it’s not going to go away and I cannot see that it is going to have any positive impact on problem gambling.
When you consider that problem gambling in Australia ranges from 0.5 to 1 per cent and in Tasmania our rate is only 0.6 per cent, I think that shows how well the Tasmanian model is working.
Labor should not tell us what we can and cannot do and how we should be spending our money.
In order for the Tasmanian economy to be successful into the future we must have a majority government and cannot afford another Labor Green coalition.