Bob Carr Still Getting It Wrong On Club Pokies Tax
False claims by former NSW Premier Bob Carr on club poker machine tax rates are a painful reminder for the Club Industry of the record number of clubs that closed during his time as NSW leader.
Mr Carr, who introduced almost 30,000 poker machines into the NSW hotel industry, was the chief spruiker of then-Treasurer Michael Egan’s $1.4 billion club poker machine tax increases in May 2003 and which commenced in September 2004.
Some important facts have been omitted in his attack on the NSW Club Industry, published in mid-October in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Had reporter Matthew Moore contacted ClubsNSW for comment, he would have been told the following …
> The author of the book “Casino Clubs NSW”, Betty Con Walker is a former Treasury official. She is also considered the leading consultant for hotels applying for more poker machines and has been a long-time defender of the NSW hotel industry. This fact was revealed by Mr Moore’s newspaper as far back as 2003.
> Since Bob Carr increased poker machine tax rates in 2004, employment in the Club Industry has fallen by more than 9,000 direct jobs. This massive decline in jobs was acknowledged by the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year.
> Clubs have, in the past five years alone, paid $3.02 billion in poker machine tax to the NSW Government. Of this amount, $712 million is solely due to increased poker machine tax rates. This figure continues to grow with each passing year.
> Under the revised club poker machine tax, rates agreed to by Morris Iemma when Premier of NSW, large clubs still pay a tax rate 52% higher than the original rate.
> Bob Carr is no expert on the Club Industry. During his time as leader of the Government, 134 clubs closed, and another 79 were forced to amalgamate to remain open in some capacity. This is a “record” surely no Premier will ever surpass.
> The NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) last year measured the social contribution of clubs at $811 million each year. This is the social worth of clubs to the community, and considers club services and facilities such as affordable meals, free transport, the provision of sporting facilities, etc. It doesn’t include the financial support clubs make of the community.
ClubsNSW CEO David Costello said Mr Carr’s suggestion that the community didn’t support club’s campaign for a fair rate of tax is an attempted rewrite of NSW political history.
“We had two rallies on Macquarie Street, with each attended by more than 15,000 people,” Mr Costello said. “The second featured a petition containing the signatures of more than 150,000 people. The people were furious with Bob Carr and Michael Egan and, to this day, people still sigh with relief that both men resigned from politics.
“Bob Carr was the worst thing that ever happened to the club industry, the 9,000 people who used to work in clubs and to the charities and sporting groups supported by clubs. It’s not a legacy I would have thought he wanted to revisit.”
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