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Canberra Today 18°/23° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Barr says he’s being tough. Casino can only have 200 pokies

casino

ANDREW Barr says an upgraded Canberra Casino cannot have 500 poker machines and will not include the Canberra Convention Centre.

“Under a counter proposal that will reduce the number of poker machines in the Territory, the ACT Government has advised Aquis that while investment is very welcome, the bid cannot progress if it includes 500 poker machines or handing over the Convention Centre,” Andrew said.

“The Government has asked Aquis to go back to the drawing board with this in mind.

“If Aquis wishes to progress to the next phase of the unsolicited bid process, they will have to develop and submit a new proposal based on no more than 200 poker machines, which is four percent of the machines in the ACT. This would take 67 poker machines out of circulation under the Government’s trading scheme, which requires one licence to be surrendered in every four that are traded.

“500 machines would be just too many. While there are currently several club groups with more than 500 machines, no single venue has anywhere near that number.

“There are currently seven venues in the territory which have more than 200 machines.

“It is important to be clear that to be allowed to operate any poker machines, the casino – which is currently the only casino in Australia and New Zealand without poker machines – will need to implement harm minimisation measures over and above those in community clubs and it will be taxed at a higher rate and make larger community contributions.

“The convention centre will remain in public hands to ensure it appeals to all potential conferences.

“A redeveloped leisure precinct operated by the casino has potential to revitalise the city with new restaurants, hotels, shops and entertainment – creating new jobs in construction and hospitality.

“Only once the work is complete and the community is able to benefit from a redeveloped precinct would the casino be allowed to operate poker machines, assuming clubs want to sell them the licences. This would require the successful completion of the unsolicited bid process, legislative changes and the usual planning and development processes, followed by construction.

“Details of the mechanism for trading have not been finalised, but I can confirm the process will be transparent and give smaller clubs first option to participate.

“The Government supports the community club model. We will, of course, continue to work with the clubs sector to support its role in the community and help clubs diversify their incomes. We already have a number of measures in place to help clubs transition their operations to be less reliant on poker machines.

“I look forward to Aquis submitting a revised business case. If it is successful in the unsolicited bid process, this project has the potential to support our tourism industry and continue our CBD renewal agenda.”

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Ian Meikle, editor

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