24 October 2013

A helping hand for the pokie dens

| johnboy
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poker machines

Because Canberra’s mini casinos are the sector of the community most in need of help Joy Burch has announced she’s legislating to make their lives easier and simpler:

Legislation introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly today (Thursday) will reduce red tape for clubs, Minister for Gaming and Racing Joy Burch said.

Ms Burch said the Gaming Machine (Red Tape Reduction) Amendment Bill 2013 progresses work commenced last year through a Memorandum of Understanding she signed with Clubs ACT, which set the policy and reform agenda for the licensed club sector for the next four years.

“A key commitment in the MoU was that the ACT Government would conduct a broad review of the current regulatory regime faced by the club sector and identify areas for reform,” Ms Burch said.

“I am pleased that much of this work is already well underway as part of ClubsACT current representation on the Government’s Red Tape Reduction Panel.”

The Bill contains amendments to the Gaming Machine Act 2004 to create a one-step process for the application, approval and decision with regards to acquiring a gaming machine and removes the requirement to approve encumbrances of existing gaming machines.

“These changes will reduce the paperwork for clubs associated with applying to purchase machines, and applying for approval of financial arrangements over existing machines.”

[Image by Threthny (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)]

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AsparagusSyndrome11:44 pm 24 Oct 13

poetix said :

Endrey said :

Is there a single private business in Canberra that gets the bulk of its income from people contributing to culture, or is it all just subsidised by our gambling addicts/livers?

Private art galleries? They only serve alcohol at openings, and I have yet to see pokies at one.

Some of the more advanced machines, the ones which can play 14 lines at once, sometimes go to sonnet readings.

Endrey said :

Is there a single private business in Canberra that gets the bulk of its income from people contributing to culture, or is it all just subsidised by our gambling addicts/livers?

Private art galleries? They only serve alcohol at openings, and I have yet to see pokies at one.

I’m with Thumper and Roadrage77, lose them all.

What a cynical attack on society and community. I don’t care that they fund other sectors, I’d rather pay the true cost of those services and get our public spaces back, sparing more than a few weak people on the way.

They should rename the clubs based on their actual activities. That way, it would be clear that the Ainslie Pokies Club entertains <200 friends and family a week by funding an NEAFL team. If a cut to pokies revenue cost the football club on-field quality then maybe there'd be an incentive to actually engage and build a community of supporters and make the whole caper anything other than futile.

“Legislation introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly today (Thursday) will reduce red tape for clubs, Minister for Gambling and Horse Racing Joy Burch said.”

I fixed that for them.

Among the things that I’m sick and bloody tired of (and, as you all know, they’re legion) is referring to gambling as gaming. As it happens, I have nothing against either, but they’re not the same thing.

I wouldn’t shed a single tear if every club in Canberra disappeared. The community would be far better off without them. Maybe then we’d see some decent pubs (ie. not wanky tapas bars owned by greedy capitalist 2nd generation Eastern European immigrants) start sprouting?

neanderthalsis1:57 pm 24 Oct 13

Endrey said :

Is there a single private business in Canberra that gets the bulk of its income from people contributing to culture, or is it all just subsidised by our gambling addicts/livers?

Nope. Our sports teams (if that counts as culture) can’t even support themselves. The pokies are evil, but at least they fund our health and community sectors.

Real poker can be had daily nearby in Queanbeyan. Why bother legaising it in Canberra? It’d only ruin the established poker venues in QBN and bring their crowds of players to the ACT’s gambling dens instead. Where’s the profit in that?

thebrownstreak6912:43 pm 24 Oct 13

Pokies are by far the lowest form of gambling.

If only they could actually offer real poker – you know, the game of money that’s played with cards, and not those unfortunately named electronic lottery machines.

If not, then this is great policy from the Minister for Gaming and – fittingly – the Arts. Build profitability at one end to better feed the other.

Is there a single private business in Canberra that gets the bulk of its income from people contributing to culture, or is it all just subsidised by our gambling addicts/livers?

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