Licensed clubs might have to pay more than $1 billion in additional tax if the federal government adopts recommendations made by the Productivity Commission.
As part of its wide-reaching review of the not-for-profit sector, the commission found tax concessions presently extended to clubs were unfair.
Social and sporting clubs, such as licensed football clubs, that provide member and community services, are treated as not-for-profit for some tax purposes.
They pay less tax on the billions made from poker machines, while income made from members, and in some cases non-members, is tax-free.
In 2009-10 those concessions were worth about $1.3 billion.
The commission said the tax breaks delivered clubs a "significant advantage" over hotels, pubs and entertainment venues, which did not share the same status.
The breaks could not be justified because it was not the best way to deliver community services, as intended by the tax breaks.
The registered clubs movement, representing about 4,500 clubs, disagrees, saying the tax breaks are valid.
Clubs Australia says a minimum of 1.5 per cent of revenue was returned to members through community services.
"Hotels do not return the same social dividends as clubs ... they exist to create profit for their owners," the group's submission to the commission's inquiry said.
The commission acknowledged the point but said it was no argument for providing clubs with substantial tax concessions.
The report is another blow to clubs, which generate more than half of their revenue profits from poker machines.
In a separate report into gambling, the commission urged a crack-down on pokies, including limiting bets to $1, down from $10, and a $20 limit on one machine at a time.
It also suggested a $200 withdrawal limit on cash machines located nearby.
The clubs movement was just one area of the commission's report, which looked at issues affecting the not-for-profit sector, including hospitals.
The report recommended wide-ranging reforms to remove unnecessary costs and burdens faced by the sector.
It said a streamlined regulatory approach was urgently needed.
The not-for-profit sector provided $43 billion, and eight per cent of the nation's employment, in 2006-07.
The federal government will consider changes to clubs' taxation after the Henry tax review and commission's final gambling report is handed down.
"The government will carefully consider the recommendations of all three of these important reports before making any decisions," assistant treasurer Nick Sherry told AAP.
Issued by The Sydney Morning Herald 11th February 2010
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/clubs-could-lose-tax-breaks-20100211-numb.html
Friday, February 12, 2010
Clubs hit jackpot with tax breaks on pokies income
CLUBS are getting an unfair tax advantage on their pokies income, the Productivity Commission has concluded.
In a report on the not-for-profit sector released yesterday, the commission criticised tax concessions on gaming income for clubs, saying they delivered a "considerable benefit" to clubs not available to hotels and other operators.
It found the concessions were a breach of competitive neutrality principles, distortionary and not justified by the argument that clubs re-invest their profits back into local communities.
"While clubs provide valuable community benefits through their support of community activities, the direct contributions fall well short of the concession," the commission found.
In Queensland, the gaming tax for licensed clubs ranges from nil for venues earning up to $9500 a month in poker machine profits to 35.91 per cent for clubs earning more than $1.4 million a month from poker machines.
All hotels pay the 35.91 per cent rate in gaming taxes, as well as a health services levy ranging up to 20 per cent of their gaming profits.
Former NSW treasury official Dr Betty Con Walker – author of the book Casino Clubs NSW: Profits, tax, sport and politics – said that meant many Queensland clubs would be paying less than half the tax of hotels which had the same gaming profits.
"It would be worth millions of dollars and that's money that Queensland taxpayers are foregoing," she said.
While Dr Con Walker also acknowledged that clubs contributed to their local communities, she said that taxpayers would be better off if clubs paid the same taxes as hotels did, allowing the Government to use that money to provide more community services.
But Clubs Queensland CEO Doug Flockhart disputed the suggestion that clubs were contributing less to their communities than the value of their tax concessions, describing it as "bogus".
"The concessional tax rates for community clubs allow them to provide facilities for communities that wouldn't otherwise be available," he said.
"Junior sport would fall over. You wouldn't have $2.4 billion in community assets on the ground. You wouldn't have, as was the case last year, nearly 52 million hours of active participation in sport, because frankly, you just couldn't fund it."
Issued by news.com.au February 12th 2010
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26710064-3102,00.html
In a report on the not-for-profit sector released yesterday, the commission criticised tax concessions on gaming income for clubs, saying they delivered a "considerable benefit" to clubs not available to hotels and other operators.
It found the concessions were a breach of competitive neutrality principles, distortionary and not justified by the argument that clubs re-invest their profits back into local communities.
"While clubs provide valuable community benefits through their support of community activities, the direct contributions fall well short of the concession," the commission found.
In Queensland, the gaming tax for licensed clubs ranges from nil for venues earning up to $9500 a month in poker machine profits to 35.91 per cent for clubs earning more than $1.4 million a month from poker machines.
All hotels pay the 35.91 per cent rate in gaming taxes, as well as a health services levy ranging up to 20 per cent of their gaming profits.
Former NSW treasury official Dr Betty Con Walker – author of the book Casino Clubs NSW: Profits, tax, sport and politics – said that meant many Queensland clubs would be paying less than half the tax of hotels which had the same gaming profits.
"It would be worth millions of dollars and that's money that Queensland taxpayers are foregoing," she said.
While Dr Con Walker also acknowledged that clubs contributed to their local communities, she said that taxpayers would be better off if clubs paid the same taxes as hotels did, allowing the Government to use that money to provide more community services.
But Clubs Queensland CEO Doug Flockhart disputed the suggestion that clubs were contributing less to their communities than the value of their tax concessions, describing it as "bogus".
"The concessional tax rates for community clubs allow them to provide facilities for communities that wouldn't otherwise be available," he said.
"Junior sport would fall over. You wouldn't have $2.4 billion in community assets on the ground. You wouldn't have, as was the case last year, nearly 52 million hours of active participation in sport, because frankly, you just couldn't fund it."
Issued by news.com.au February 12th 2010
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26710064-3102,00.html
SILENT discos and movie marathons are among Melbourne City Council's latest weapons in combating CBD boozing and violence.
Major Melbourne festivals given funding boost to run late-night shows in bid to curb alcohol-fuelled violence in CBD Evonne Barry From: Herald Sun February 11, 2010 11:57AM 26 commentsIncrease Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share
Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these?SILENT discos and movie marathons are among Melbourne City Council's latest weapons in combating CBD boozing and violence.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle this morning announced funding for five of Melbourne's biggest arts festivals to run late-night and early-morning shows.
The International Comedy, Jazz and Film Festivals, as well as the Fringe and Next Wave Festivals, will share $117,000 to extend the hours of their programming.
Do you think extending late-night entertainment will help curb CBD violence?
Tell us below
Cr Doyle said that as well as providing more entertainment, the late shows will make the city safer.
"Melbourne is a 24-hour city, and we want late-night entertainment that goes beyond nightclubs and bars,'' he said.
"We believe if we broaden the scope of the city's late-night offering, a wider audience will visit.
"The flow on effect is that this will help to create a safer city with more people out at night participating in activities that are not solely based on alcohol.''
The trial is part of the City of Melbourne's long-term plan to transform the CBD nightlife, moving the focus from binge-drinking at clubs to more family-friendly entertainment.
The late-night events include:
- Silent Discos, where revellers dance to music heard through individual headphones, not speakers, during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in March and April.
- All-night "video-art'' marathons at Federation Square, during the Next Wave Festival in May.
Issued by Herald Sun February 11th 2010
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/major-melbourne-festivals-given-funding-boost-to-run-late-night-shows-in-bid-to-curb-alcohol-fuelled-violence-in-cbd/story-e6frf7jo-1225829144547
Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these?SILENT discos and movie marathons are among Melbourne City Council's latest weapons in combating CBD boozing and violence.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle this morning announced funding for five of Melbourne's biggest arts festivals to run late-night and early-morning shows.
The International Comedy, Jazz and Film Festivals, as well as the Fringe and Next Wave Festivals, will share $117,000 to extend the hours of their programming.
Do you think extending late-night entertainment will help curb CBD violence?
Tell us below
Cr Doyle said that as well as providing more entertainment, the late shows will make the city safer.
"Melbourne is a 24-hour city, and we want late-night entertainment that goes beyond nightclubs and bars,'' he said.
"We believe if we broaden the scope of the city's late-night offering, a wider audience will visit.
"The flow on effect is that this will help to create a safer city with more people out at night participating in activities that are not solely based on alcohol.''
The trial is part of the City of Melbourne's long-term plan to transform the CBD nightlife, moving the focus from binge-drinking at clubs to more family-friendly entertainment.
The late-night events include:
- Silent Discos, where revellers dance to music heard through individual headphones, not speakers, during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in March and April.
- All-night "video-art'' marathons at Federation Square, during the Next Wave Festival in May.
Issued by Herald Sun February 11th 2010
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/major-melbourne-festivals-given-funding-boost-to-run-late-night-shows-in-bid-to-curb-alcohol-fuelled-violence-in-cbd/story-e6frf7jo-1225829144547
Shots banned as Accord cracks down on liquor louts in Bendigo
HIGH-ALCOHOL shots have been banned from Bendigo’s late-night venues in a bid to banish drunken louts.
The Bendigo Liquor Accord yesterday voted to enforce the ban after 2am.
All-you-can-drink promotions have also been reined in after several Bendigo venues continued to hold events that violated State Government legislation. Patrons pay a set amount to drink unlimited alcohol at the events.
Star Bar and Pugg Mahones owner Andrew Lethlean said the bans were not necessarily a precursor to tighter restrictions in the CBD.
But he said if licensees did not responsibly serve alcohol then tougher measures may be implemented.
“It’s just making people a bit more responsible for what they’re serving,” Mr Lethlean said.
“I don’t think 2am will make a huge difference, but it’s a good step.
“The hardest part of all this is it doesn’t really matter if people are having shots at 9, 10 or 11 o’clock, it’s comes down to people serving them responsibly.”
Mr Lethlean said licensees had urged the liquor accord - which also includes police and community members - to consider tighter regulations on businesses that sold takeaway liquor.
“Our main argument is that we can’t know what these people have been getting up to at home,” he said.
“We’re the ones held responsible for people, and there’s no way of telling how much they’ve had to drink before they come into town.
``We say we’re actually the safest place people can have a drink at, because there’s security, it’s a controlled environment and it’s supervised.”
Attorney-General Rob Hulls said shortly before the liquor accord confirmed the ban that the State Government was committed to removing the scourge of anti-social behaviour from the streets.
Mr Hulls was in Bendigo to announce funding for several racing initiatives as part of his role as Racing Minister.
“We have to get the message out there that it’s not smart, it’s not clever, to get drunk and assault people,” Mr Hulls said.
“If you respect yourself, and you respect your neighbours and respect your community, you don’t go out and get drunk and start assaulting people.
“I certainly welcome the accord that has been placed here in Bendigo . . . and I think Bendigo is taking a lead in relation to trying to curb alcohol-fuelled violence and the accord that’s been struck, I think, is a good one.
“What I support is local communities working together on local solutions.
“When the community works together with law enforcement agencies innovative solutions can occur.”
Issued by Bendigo Advertiser 12th February 2010
http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/shots-banned-as-accord-cracks-down-on-liquor-louts-in-bendigo/1748947.aspx
The Bendigo Liquor Accord yesterday voted to enforce the ban after 2am.
All-you-can-drink promotions have also been reined in after several Bendigo venues continued to hold events that violated State Government legislation. Patrons pay a set amount to drink unlimited alcohol at the events.
Star Bar and Pugg Mahones owner Andrew Lethlean said the bans were not necessarily a precursor to tighter restrictions in the CBD.
But he said if licensees did not responsibly serve alcohol then tougher measures may be implemented.
“It’s just making people a bit more responsible for what they’re serving,” Mr Lethlean said.
“I don’t think 2am will make a huge difference, but it’s a good step.
“The hardest part of all this is it doesn’t really matter if people are having shots at 9, 10 or 11 o’clock, it’s comes down to people serving them responsibly.”
Mr Lethlean said licensees had urged the liquor accord - which also includes police and community members - to consider tighter regulations on businesses that sold takeaway liquor.
“Our main argument is that we can’t know what these people have been getting up to at home,” he said.
“We’re the ones held responsible for people, and there’s no way of telling how much they’ve had to drink before they come into town.
``We say we’re actually the safest place people can have a drink at, because there’s security, it’s a controlled environment and it’s supervised.”
Attorney-General Rob Hulls said shortly before the liquor accord confirmed the ban that the State Government was committed to removing the scourge of anti-social behaviour from the streets.
Mr Hulls was in Bendigo to announce funding for several racing initiatives as part of his role as Racing Minister.
“We have to get the message out there that it’s not smart, it’s not clever, to get drunk and assault people,” Mr Hulls said.
“If you respect yourself, and you respect your neighbours and respect your community, you don’t go out and get drunk and start assaulting people.
“I certainly welcome the accord that has been placed here in Bendigo . . . and I think Bendigo is taking a lead in relation to trying to curb alcohol-fuelled violence and the accord that’s been struck, I think, is a good one.
“What I support is local communities working together on local solutions.
“When the community works together with law enforcement agencies innovative solutions can occur.”
Issued by Bendigo Advertiser 12th February 2010
http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/shots-banned-as-accord-cracks-down-on-liquor-louts-in-bendigo/1748947.aspx
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Fair Work to visit 10,000 businesses in NSW
Businesses need to be aware that the new Fair Work IR system is here NOW, and the law requires businesses to comply with all their new obligations under the system.
Fair Work Inspectors will visit over 10,000 small businesses in NSW this year.
"Ignorance is no excuse" said Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson, "but we recognise that in order to comply, we must help employers understand the law and the obligations it imposes on them".
If a business is not already complying with the new laws, they may be at risk of disruptive, time-costly interaction with the Fair Work Ombudsman, should they visit.
Employers will have the chance to voluntarily rectify any non-compliance issues, however if businesses do not cooperate they could be prosecuted.
For example
In an upcoming case in Northern NSW, the Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a prosecution against the operators of a motel for allegedly failing to provide inspectors with staff employment records.
The business and the company director-manager are alleged to have committed two breaches of the workplace laws.
The maximum penalty per breach is $33,000 for the company and $6,000 for the company-director.
Update - recent Ombudsman campaigns
The Ombudsman also recently audited 86 hair and beauty salons across NSW and the ACT, and found that 39% were non-compliant, including breaches relating to payslips, time-and-wages records and monetary contraventions.
Three salons were found to have underpaid 11 staff more than $86,000
Recent reimbursements
In December, a large hospitality group in Sydney was ordered to back pay staff after an investigation revealed they had been underpaying staff.
The company signed its employees to workplace agreements in 2007 which paid slightly above the minimum hourly rate at that time - but which did not provide for future increases.
The oversight resulted in the workers being paid less than the minimum hourly rate after minimum pay rates rose on October 1 2007. The largest underpayment of a single worker was $3,642 and the campaign ultimately recouped $1.1 million for 3,863 employees.
Even if a business has made a genuine mistake and does not receive a financial penalty, the cost to rectify the situation could be high.
NSW Business Chamber specialises in workplace relations, HR and industrial matters, and can provide sound, trusted workplace advice for employers, to help businesses comply with the new laws, and prevent potentially costly oversights.
Call 13 26 96
Issued by NSW Business Chamber 3rd February 2010
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe8213767263027b73&m=fef91d70726501&ls=fe0a15747564047b741c7175&l=fef616747c650d&s=fe2b117374660179721d70&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe5a1c767467007c7d12&r=0
Fair Work Inspectors will visit over 10,000 small businesses in NSW this year.
"Ignorance is no excuse" said Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson, "but we recognise that in order to comply, we must help employers understand the law and the obligations it imposes on them".
If a business is not already complying with the new laws, they may be at risk of disruptive, time-costly interaction with the Fair Work Ombudsman, should they visit.
Employers will have the chance to voluntarily rectify any non-compliance issues, however if businesses do not cooperate they could be prosecuted.
For example
In an upcoming case in Northern NSW, the Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a prosecution against the operators of a motel for allegedly failing to provide inspectors with staff employment records.
The business and the company director-manager are alleged to have committed two breaches of the workplace laws.
The maximum penalty per breach is $33,000 for the company and $6,000 for the company-director.
Update - recent Ombudsman campaigns
The Ombudsman also recently audited 86 hair and beauty salons across NSW and the ACT, and found that 39% were non-compliant, including breaches relating to payslips, time-and-wages records and monetary contraventions.
Three salons were found to have underpaid 11 staff more than $86,000
Recent reimbursements
In December, a large hospitality group in Sydney was ordered to back pay staff after an investigation revealed they had been underpaying staff.
The company signed its employees to workplace agreements in 2007 which paid slightly above the minimum hourly rate at that time - but which did not provide for future increases.
The oversight resulted in the workers being paid less than the minimum hourly rate after minimum pay rates rose on October 1 2007. The largest underpayment of a single worker was $3,642 and the campaign ultimately recouped $1.1 million for 3,863 employees.
Even if a business has made a genuine mistake and does not receive a financial penalty, the cost to rectify the situation could be high.
NSW Business Chamber specialises in workplace relations, HR and industrial matters, and can provide sound, trusted workplace advice for employers, to help businesses comply with the new laws, and prevent potentially costly oversights.
Call 13 26 96
Issued by NSW Business Chamber 3rd February 2010
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe8213767263027b73&m=fef91d70726501&ls=fe0a15747564047b741c7175&l=fef616747c650d&s=fe2b117374660179721d70&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe5a1c767467007c7d12&r=0
Unis welcome move but private colleges angry
A LONG-ANTICIPATED shake-up of the skilled migration system has split the $16.5 billion international education industry, with private colleges warning of catastrophe and universities praising the priority that the smartest will receive for permanent residency.
The Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, yesterday announced an overhaul of a system that had virtually guaranteed permanent residency to foreign students of certain trade courses.
Under the existing system the number of foreign students studying in Australia reached 580,000 last year, an increase of 95 per cent over five years.
The changes will streamline the list of jobs and areas of study used to select migrants, with a more targeted list to be implemented by July.
Priority will be given to skilled migrants who have a job lined up with an Australian employer, and potential new Australians will need to have better English language skills. Some 20,000 prospective migrants who lodged applications before September 2007 will have these cancelled and their fees refunded at a cost of about $14 million.
The government's decision to dump 20,000 visa applications received widespread coverage in the Indian media yesterday.
An agent in New Delhi, Inder Panjwani, said the decision had shattered the hopes of many and he warned of ''repercussions''.
''Some applicants have sold their houses and closed their businesses in anticipation,'' he said. ''This is a major setback.''
Another agent in Delhi, Bubbly Johar, said the visa changes could stoke further resentment following recent attacks on Indian students. ''It will add to frustration with Australia,'' he said. ''The repercussions will be bad here.''
Senator Evans said the changes would make ''a permanent difference so that Australia is able to choose who migrates to this country, based on whether they are going to make a contribution. If they don't have the English language skills, don't have the trade skills and can't get a job, then really, they shouldn't be eligible for permanent residency.''
The Herald has highlighted widespread rorting of the visa system, including private colleges charging students fees of more than $20,000 a year to do courses that cost Australian students only hundreds of dollars.
Senator Evans said the ''perverse'' points system rating a hospitality or hairdressing graduate from an Australian college above a Rhodes scholar would be reviewed.
Yesterday, tutors in private colleges teetering on collapse said they feared for their jobs. One hairdressing college in Sydney said enrolments for a $25,000 course could decline by half.
''There's going to be a catastrophic effect on the employment of Australian workers,'' a college spokesman said. Universities Australia said the changes would encourage the migration of highly qualified people and reduce their waiting times. The migration reforms would encourage the best and brightest, the group's chief executive, Dr Glenn Withers, said.
The deputy vice-chancellor of Macquarie University, Caroline Trotman, welcomed the changes.
''The reputation of universities overseas was damaged by association with the shonky operators in the vocational sector,'' Ms Trotman said.
But in Parliament, the policy was attacked by the opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison. "The government is playing musical chairs with skilled migration,'' he said. He called on the government to commit to the same proportion of skilled workers in Australia's annual intake of migrants.
Issued by The Sydney Morning Herald 9th February 2010
http://www.smh.com.au/national/unis-welcome-move-but-private-colleges-angry-20100208-nnbq.html
The Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, yesterday announced an overhaul of a system that had virtually guaranteed permanent residency to foreign students of certain trade courses.
Under the existing system the number of foreign students studying in Australia reached 580,000 last year, an increase of 95 per cent over five years.
The changes will streamline the list of jobs and areas of study used to select migrants, with a more targeted list to be implemented by July.
Priority will be given to skilled migrants who have a job lined up with an Australian employer, and potential new Australians will need to have better English language skills. Some 20,000 prospective migrants who lodged applications before September 2007 will have these cancelled and their fees refunded at a cost of about $14 million.
The government's decision to dump 20,000 visa applications received widespread coverage in the Indian media yesterday.
An agent in New Delhi, Inder Panjwani, said the decision had shattered the hopes of many and he warned of ''repercussions''.
''Some applicants have sold their houses and closed their businesses in anticipation,'' he said. ''This is a major setback.''
Another agent in Delhi, Bubbly Johar, said the visa changes could stoke further resentment following recent attacks on Indian students. ''It will add to frustration with Australia,'' he said. ''The repercussions will be bad here.''
Senator Evans said the changes would make ''a permanent difference so that Australia is able to choose who migrates to this country, based on whether they are going to make a contribution. If they don't have the English language skills, don't have the trade skills and can't get a job, then really, they shouldn't be eligible for permanent residency.''
The Herald has highlighted widespread rorting of the visa system, including private colleges charging students fees of more than $20,000 a year to do courses that cost Australian students only hundreds of dollars.
Senator Evans said the ''perverse'' points system rating a hospitality or hairdressing graduate from an Australian college above a Rhodes scholar would be reviewed.
Yesterday, tutors in private colleges teetering on collapse said they feared for their jobs. One hairdressing college in Sydney said enrolments for a $25,000 course could decline by half.
''There's going to be a catastrophic effect on the employment of Australian workers,'' a college spokesman said. Universities Australia said the changes would encourage the migration of highly qualified people and reduce their waiting times. The migration reforms would encourage the best and brightest, the group's chief executive, Dr Glenn Withers, said.
The deputy vice-chancellor of Macquarie University, Caroline Trotman, welcomed the changes.
''The reputation of universities overseas was damaged by association with the shonky operators in the vocational sector,'' Ms Trotman said.
But in Parliament, the policy was attacked by the opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison. "The government is playing musical chairs with skilled migration,'' he said. He called on the government to commit to the same proportion of skilled workers in Australia's annual intake of migrants.
Issued by The Sydney Morning Herald 9th February 2010
http://www.smh.com.au/national/unis-welcome-move-but-private-colleges-angry-20100208-nnbq.html
Pokies death threat
I T sounds a long shot but a Productivity Commission report this month may spell the end of poker machine gambling dominance in Australia.
A gambling revolution will become a bushfire once federal laws approve online betting after an event has started.
Betting on the gallops with 100m to go, picking the next scorer at the AFL or NRL or when an ace will be belted at the tennis will be punters' next serve. Instant sports betting 'in the run' via the net has all sorts of possibilities, say bookies.
Not to mention the fortunes to be made for online betting companies from the cheaper costs using the internet. It's all about shifting punters from high-maintenance pubs and TABs to the lounge room TV remote to create millions of dollars in operational savings.
Pokie players squander two-thirds of the $18 billion lost in gambling in Australia each year. Even worse, up to 40 per cent of the $12 billion splashed on poker machines annually is estimated to come from problem gamblers.
The internet and high-tech phone pads will ensure that the gambling revolution becomes a sure thing. Even voice conversations on our new mobiles will be too slow.
With the pokie addicts growing older, machine turnover is sliding. Overseas corporate betting firms are lining up for licences to cash in if the instant interactive betting is approved by the Rudd Government later in the year.
Some financial analysts blame the end of the Federal Government bonuses and stimulus packages for the sagging poker machine turnover. Some publicans question if the poker machine era has peaked.
Queensland pokies were down 10 per cent in December.
One Queensland hotelier who outlayed $5 million for the maximum 40 machines in a new tavern near Gold Coast recently conceded that pokies' trade in some pubs around the state had dropped 20 per cent.
The total number of poker machines tinkling in Queensland is 45,768, almost 2000 less than the government maximum set in 2008. The number of poker machines in Victoria is capped at 27,500 and banning Tasmanian poker machines, Western Australian-style, is an election proposal from Greens.
Pokies remain lucrative with some Gold Coast pubs clearing $2500 from the machines even on slower days of the week.
In addition to an ageing clientele, governments have forced all sorts of pokies' restrictions including bans or limits on cash access including ATMs, bans on smoking in pokies areas, machine feeding limited to $5, $10 and $20 notes, shorter hours for pokies play and caps on the number of machines.
The Productivity Commission will seek even more in their next submission -- aimed at reducing the amount pokie fans can lose per hour.
"Lowering the intensity of play," said PC chairman Gary Banks.
Not to mention offering problem gamblers better protection from on-line betting than offered by overseas internet sites.
Betfair, the British head-to-head wagering company seeking a low-cost tax deal in Australia, estimates $300 million a year in Australian gambling leaks overseas.
Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser confirmed to The Bulletin that the downturn in pokies had forced him to revise gaming machine tax receipts from his original forecast of $572 million to $550 million for the 2009-10 financial year. The national rakeoff tops $4 billion.
In his early days as Treasurer Mr Fraser used to joke that if he had to balance the books without pokies he would somehow find a way. Not a joke any more. Mr Fraser recently halved the government tax rate on wagering on dogs and horses in Queensland to safeguard racecourse facilities.
The railways' fire sale may take on greater importance if the Queensland Treasury cannot work how to grab a fresh cut of the tax action from the gambling revolution. Or 'Heavy Kevvie' beats Mr Fraser to the punch.
The Commission's final report into gambling reform and poker machine dominance will be handed over in Canberra on February 26. Once it is tabled, the scramble for the internet/interactive betting dollar will be on for young and old.
The PC message is blunt: it is inconsistent that punters can bet 'in play' via the phone but not online.
Australians already bet illegally on-line with overseas casinos and betting agencies. Legal interactive betting in Queensland on races, sports and lotteries is restricted to UNiTAB and the Golden Casket lotteries office.
UNiTAB, which operates in Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia, also has a poker machine network as part of the Melbourne-based Tatts group. The Victorian-based Tabcorp, which took over the New South Wales TAB in 2004, is in the poker machine business as well. But the companies' licence to operate poker machines in Victoria and that state's TABs expires in 2012. Tabcorp also operates three Queensland casinos, including the Gold Coast's, plus Star City casino in Sydney.
Speculation about a merger/takeover involving Tabcorp and Tatts/UNiTAB is on hold pending the PC report and a decision from the Rudd Government on the Interactive Gambling Act.
Anti-gambling crusader the Rev Tim Costello is urging caution ahead of the gambling revolution.
"With online gambling it's now possible to lose your home without ever actually having to leave it," he said.
Issued by goldcoast.com.au February 11th 2010
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/02/11/187335_peter-cameron-opinion.html
A gambling revolution will become a bushfire once federal laws approve online betting after an event has started.
Betting on the gallops with 100m to go, picking the next scorer at the AFL or NRL or when an ace will be belted at the tennis will be punters' next serve. Instant sports betting 'in the run' via the net has all sorts of possibilities, say bookies.
Not to mention the fortunes to be made for online betting companies from the cheaper costs using the internet. It's all about shifting punters from high-maintenance pubs and TABs to the lounge room TV remote to create millions of dollars in operational savings.
Pokie players squander two-thirds of the $18 billion lost in gambling in Australia each year. Even worse, up to 40 per cent of the $12 billion splashed on poker machines annually is estimated to come from problem gamblers.
The internet and high-tech phone pads will ensure that the gambling revolution becomes a sure thing. Even voice conversations on our new mobiles will be too slow.
With the pokie addicts growing older, machine turnover is sliding. Overseas corporate betting firms are lining up for licences to cash in if the instant interactive betting is approved by the Rudd Government later in the year.
Some financial analysts blame the end of the Federal Government bonuses and stimulus packages for the sagging poker machine turnover. Some publicans question if the poker machine era has peaked.
Queensland pokies were down 10 per cent in December.
One Queensland hotelier who outlayed $5 million for the maximum 40 machines in a new tavern near Gold Coast recently conceded that pokies' trade in some pubs around the state had dropped 20 per cent.
The total number of poker machines tinkling in Queensland is 45,768, almost 2000 less than the government maximum set in 2008. The number of poker machines in Victoria is capped at 27,500 and banning Tasmanian poker machines, Western Australian-style, is an election proposal from Greens.
Pokies remain lucrative with some Gold Coast pubs clearing $2500 from the machines even on slower days of the week.
In addition to an ageing clientele, governments have forced all sorts of pokies' restrictions including bans or limits on cash access including ATMs, bans on smoking in pokies areas, machine feeding limited to $5, $10 and $20 notes, shorter hours for pokies play and caps on the number of machines.
The Productivity Commission will seek even more in their next submission -- aimed at reducing the amount pokie fans can lose per hour.
"Lowering the intensity of play," said PC chairman Gary Banks.
Not to mention offering problem gamblers better protection from on-line betting than offered by overseas internet sites.
Betfair, the British head-to-head wagering company seeking a low-cost tax deal in Australia, estimates $300 million a year in Australian gambling leaks overseas.
Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser confirmed to The Bulletin that the downturn in pokies had forced him to revise gaming machine tax receipts from his original forecast of $572 million to $550 million for the 2009-10 financial year. The national rakeoff tops $4 billion.
In his early days as Treasurer Mr Fraser used to joke that if he had to balance the books without pokies he would somehow find a way. Not a joke any more. Mr Fraser recently halved the government tax rate on wagering on dogs and horses in Queensland to safeguard racecourse facilities.
The railways' fire sale may take on greater importance if the Queensland Treasury cannot work how to grab a fresh cut of the tax action from the gambling revolution. Or 'Heavy Kevvie' beats Mr Fraser to the punch.
The Commission's final report into gambling reform and poker machine dominance will be handed over in Canberra on February 26. Once it is tabled, the scramble for the internet/interactive betting dollar will be on for young and old.
The PC message is blunt: it is inconsistent that punters can bet 'in play' via the phone but not online.
Australians already bet illegally on-line with overseas casinos and betting agencies. Legal interactive betting in Queensland on races, sports and lotteries is restricted to UNiTAB and the Golden Casket lotteries office.
UNiTAB, which operates in Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia, also has a poker machine network as part of the Melbourne-based Tatts group. The Victorian-based Tabcorp, which took over the New South Wales TAB in 2004, is in the poker machine business as well. But the companies' licence to operate poker machines in Victoria and that state's TABs expires in 2012. Tabcorp also operates three Queensland casinos, including the Gold Coast's, plus Star City casino in Sydney.
Speculation about a merger/takeover involving Tabcorp and Tatts/UNiTAB is on hold pending the PC report and a decision from the Rudd Government on the Interactive Gambling Act.
Anti-gambling crusader the Rev Tim Costello is urging caution ahead of the gambling revolution.
"With online gambling it's now possible to lose your home without ever actually having to leave it," he said.
Issued by goldcoast.com.au February 11th 2010
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/02/11/187335_peter-cameron-opinion.html
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