December 15, 2009
NINE of the 16 elite NRL teams face the risk of financial collapse under proposed pokies reforms, the Productivity Commission has been told.
Queensland leagues clubs say they would also be devastated, with the Redcliffe Dolphins telling the commission the cost of junior membership would skyrocket and hundreds of local children would miss out on playing, exposing them to the danger of childhood obesity and even juvenile delinquency.
In a joint appearance before the commission's Brisbane hearing yesterday, officials from Leagues Clubs Australia, the National Rugby League and the Redcliffe Dolphins warned proposed changes to stem problem gambling would choke off their revenue from pokies.
The NRL's Gerard Benedet said more than half of the elite teams – which relied on income derived from leagues club pokies – could be in trouble.
"In 2009, Leagues Clubs provided just over $27 million in direct funding to NSW and ACT-based National Rugby League clubs," he said.
"Without this funding, the viability of nine of the current 16 teams would be in question."
Redcliffe Leagues Club general manager Tony Murphy said the proposed pokies changes , which would include limiting single bets to $1 and capping the credit on a machine to $20, would send his club back to its 1992 status.
He said the club would be forced to sack three-quarters of its 200 staff and its junior rugby league ranks would be decimated.
"We had 200 kids playing before electronic gaming machines," he told the commission.
"We now have over 800 Redcliffe Juniors. What happens to those kids, those 600 kids, when their $45 registration fee becomes $400?"
Mr Murphy said the club's $1.7 million a year contribution to community groups and causes would also be lost, with serious consequences for the local population and events such as Carols by Candlelight.
In other evidence yesterday, Clubs Queensland chief executive Doug Flockhart questioned why the "poor decisions" of problem gamblers should impact on the enjoyment of recreational pokies players.
"It's time we moved away from an ever encroaching nanny state," he said.
In its draft report on gambling, the Productivity Commission estimated problem gambling affected 125,000 Australians and accounted for 40 per cent of the money lost on pokies.
The commission will hold another public hearing in Canberra today before reporting to the Federal Government in February.
Source: The Courier Mail |