The Sunday Tasmanian, January 10, 1999
By SEAN STEVENSON
A STARTLING document sent anonymously to The Sunday Tasmanian has cast new light on the poker machine industry in the state.
The document was a submission to the Legislative Council select committee inquiry into the extension of video gaming machines.
It was presented to the inquiry in May, 1993, by Federal Hotels — which controls the state’s two casinos.
In it, Federal issues a dire, grim warning about the effect of introducing poker machines into pubs and hotels.
“We believe the proliferation of machine gaming throughout Tasmania — offering direct access for the majority of Tasmanians — would be disastrous for a large number of businesses which currently fairly compete for their share of discretionary income,” said then director Greg Farrell.
Under the heading Social Impact, the submission said:
“The two casinos are located in areas that require a conscious decision to travel by car or public transport to that destination, whereas machines in hotels and clubs will be easily accessed by a large number of people in the suburbs, some of whom cannot afford to gamble.”
Three months later, in an agreement with the State Government, Federal Hotels secured exclusive ownership of all poker machines in Tasmania until 2009.
The deal included machines installed in pubs and clubs from 1997.
Mr Farrell this week said he did not remember the contents of the submission and defended Federal Hotels’ operations.
He said the company’s initial concerns about the extension of gaming machines beyond the two casinos were based on the way they had been introduced in pubs and clubs interstate.
He added Federal had included controls on poker machines to mitigate against potential problems.
“It is a totally different model than was applied anywhere else in Australia,” Mr Farrell said.
The revelation angered poker machine critic Tony Foster, whose official efforts to see the document failed.
Mr Foster, Mayor of Brighton, said his council had tried to get the document through Freedom of Information but access to it was refused.
“We went through all the proper channels and were told no,” he said.
Mr Foster said all the problems the company forecast suddenly went away once it had secured monopoly control.
“They [Federal Hotels] say anything to get the outcome they want,” he said.
Two members of the 1993 Upper House select committee — Pembroke MLC Peter McKay and Murchison MLC Peter Schulze — both recalled the submission.
Mr McKay, who chaired the committee, said Tattersalls, IGT Australia and the Tasmanian TAB were among the parties interested in managing poker machines in Tasmania, and Federal was concerned about protecting its market control. He said the submission contained “self-interested” rhetoric which the company may now regret.
Mr Shulze said in regard to the poker machine issue, Federal Hotels and the major political parties “all change their tune as it suits them and their pocket and circumstance.”
“The industry thrives on greed at every level,” he said.
Mr Schulze, and former MLC for Macquarie George Shaw, voted against the key recommendation of the select committee report, giving the go-ahead to the extension of poker machines into pubs and clubs.
Turnover in the state’s 1256 machines exploded from $45 million in the last six months of the 1996-97 financial year, to $206.5 million in 1997-98.
Concerned community groups expect this figure to increase with the removal of the 30c betting limits.
