THE Telegraph Hotel could close and at least 20 jobs will be lost in Tenterfield if local pubs and clubs are forced to put in place a new pre-commitment scheme on poker machines.
At a meeting last Wednesday, the managers of some of the pubs and clubs around town presented the figures, which they say will cripple their businesses and destroy the town’s social life and community spirit.
The Federal Government introduced the pre-commitment scheme last year in return for the support of Tasmanian Independent, Andrew Wilkie, who wants to curb problem gambling across the country.
Under the proposed policy, people would be forced to register for a licence before playing the pokies. Limits would also be placed on the amount of money people can put in.
The reforms could be introduced by 2014, with pubs and clubs with under 15 machines given a reprieve until 2018.
Manager at the Telegraph Hotel, Scott Shearer, said the reforms would send him broke and force him to close down.
He said he would have to outlay at least $175,000 to buy the new machines and would not be able to recoup the costs in others areas.
“We’re barely surviving as it is,” Mr Shearer said. “You don’t make all your money from pokies but they do contribute to the running of things.
“There is no way I can put up my prices, my customers wouldn’t be able to pay them.”
Tenterfield Bowling Club general manager Michael Jones said it would cost him at least $105,000 to install the new technology in 21 of the 33 poker machines at the club.
He said under the proposed scheme, the club was set to lose up to 40 per cent of its annual profit, leading to a loss of $24,000 dollars a month or $288,000 a year.
For Tenterfield Golf Club manager Mitchell Clark, the loss could be anywhere above $100,000.
“These new poker machine reforms are going to have a very massive, very negative impact on the community, there will be job losses and less community involvement at the clubs,” he said
Scott Shearer said if the Telegraph went under, the 18 staff he employed would be out of a job. The bowling club currently employs about 12-15 people and Mr Jones said it was likely three to four jobs would have to be cut if the club was to survive.
Royal Hotel Motel manager Kevin Graham said the impacts would be felt throughout the community.
“It isn’t just the people in pubs and clubs that are going to be affected by these changes,” he said.
“It will be like dominoes, once one goes, everything will follow.”
Tenterfield Bowling Club president Dick Peters said the bowling club provided about $18,000 a year in sponsorship to many local sporting groups and community organisations
“Every month we get letters asking us for support and contributions and these will have to stop, at the very least the fees for bowlers will have to increase,” he said.
Mr Peters said for many of the town’s older population, going to the local pub or club for an afternoon was an important social outing that would no doubt be reduced if they could no longer afford the fees.
Mr Shearer said the social life of Tenterfield’s young people would also be reduced.
“The town will be dead. There will be no live music in any of the pubs and not much other entertainment around the place,” he said.
Mr Clark said if pubs and clubs had any hope of surviving the changes, they would need to diversify the kind of services they offered to their customers.
“It is the duty of our business to not rely so heavily on the revenue provided by the pokies and instead look at other services - for us it will be about promoting the game of golf,” he said.
But Mr Jones said many clubs would not be able to cover costs elsewhere.
“Keno and TAB barely generate enough to cover their running costs, especially with the rising cost of electricity,” Mr Jones said.
“People will just look to other things, like online games if they want to gamble,” Mr Graham said.
“The government hasn’t thought through this policy at all.
“They are putting restrictions on everybody, when the gamblers make-up less than one per cent of the Australian population.”
Minister for Families and Community Services Jenny Macklin has said one in six people who play the pokies regularly has a serious addiction.
She said the federal government understands the challenges small venues face in rural communities
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