By Andrew Starke
Former premier of NSW, Bob Carr, has criticised the Labour Government for cutting back club poker machine taxes, accusing clubs of being ‘self-interested’ and benefiting excessively from the reversal in policy.
However ClubsNSW has hit back at what it called ‘false claims’ by the former premier whose comments were ‘a painful reminder for the industry of the record number of clubs that closed during his time as NSW leader’.
Responding to a news article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, the group said Carr was the ‘chief spruiker’ of then Treasurer Michael Egan’s $1.4 billion club pokie tax increases in May 2003, which commenced in September 2004.
In a statement, ClubsNSW said: “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 beat.
“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.”
CEO of ClubsNSW, David Costello, said 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. 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”, he said.
NSW Shadow Minister for Hospitality, George Souris, claimed a future tax hike for the State’s registered clubs was on the cards.
Souris said it was interesting that as negotiations for the State’s final Budget before the 2011 election get underway, the topic of gaming tax had been raised again and by none other than former Premier Bob Carr.
“More tax from registered clubs is never far from a Labor Government’s mind,” Souris said.