Gold Coast clubs want to be heard by casino advisers
WHY is the Gold Coast community and its clubs being ignored in the second casino debate?
Community clubs on the Gold Coast are outraged they and their hundreds of thousands of members are being ignored as the government enters a second casino process.
Clubs say the newly-appointed tourism advisory panel, set up to advise the government in the process, is deliberately avoiding the truth – that another casino on the coast will kill off 30 clubs which provide vital services to the Gold Coast community.
Everything that Minister Jones and the panel members have said to date pretends that community clubs don’t exist.
We do. And we already compete with one casino. Competing with yet another local casino will close clubs, lose jobs and severely deplete the community of services such as lifesaving, veteran support, sport and bowls clubs.
Clubs Queensland has continued to express its concern about the membership of a newlyappointed Gold Coast tourism advisory panel set up as part of this second casino process.
From day one the panel has ignored two important sectors that are going to be affected by the outcome of this process – clubs and pubs on the Gold Coast.
You only had to read the Gold Coast Bulletin column on Saturday by panel member Tony Cochrane to see what a blinkered approach the panel will take.
The panel is happily lurching into a process where it conveniently pretends that a second casino could be created without huge repercussions.
Further, we have asked Minister Jones for a seat at the table to represent Gold Coast community clubs. We have also offered to represent the gaming sector, given the incumbent casino operator isn’t represented either.
However, our plea for a voice has been ignored. What sort of an advisory panel is this going to be without grassroots community representation or knowledge of the gaming industry?
The Palaszczuk Government talks about getting what’s best for the Coast. Our clubs have had that at the heart of their operations for more than a century. Some of our lifesaving clubs, RSL clubs, football clubs, sports and community clubs, and bowls clubs have existed since 1908 and are critical in terms of the funding they provide the community. Why should we suffer while some overseas casino operator takes their profits offshore?
This project is all about a second casino first and tourism second.
Clubs Queensland, the peak industry body representing Queensland’s 1100 community clubs, is concerned for the sector’s ability to fund their commitments to their communities on the Gold Coast, which will be put at risk by a second Gold Coast casino.
As not-for-profit entities who are granted community gaming licences on the proviso we use our profits to support our communities, it certainly concerns us when gaming licences are dangled like diamonds for large overseas corporations to profit from after an initial ‘one-night stand’ investment injection.
The reality is this. Casinos derive around 80 per cent of their income from the local market, not tourists. This will have an enormous impact on community clubs and their communities, particularly with potentially three casinos within 100km of each other fighting for the same market.
We will ensure that this is fully understood by the government and ensure that they have plans in place to mitigate the fallout in this sector. This fallout will sadly mean job losses and vital, irreplaceable community funding.