Ever since Denis Napthine was elected as the Victoria’s Premier, the local pokie industry has seen an overhaul. One of the latest changes to pokie laws will see player returns reduced from 87% to 85%. The term ‘return’ refers to the amount of money that each game pays out to players. In this case, 87% of all money that was put into the poker machine was returned to players as prizes.
The remaining 13% was divided up as profits, pokie grants and taxes. Now, players will receive less money from pokies and the government will receive more 2% more. Treasurer Michael O'Brien states that this is a necessary provision, as the pokie reforms made by the previous government resulted in a loss of poker machine spending.
As such, the Napthine has decided to increase the government’s take of pokie wagers to offset this shift. This will also include an increase of 4.2% in taxes for some gaming clubs. Local clubs and pubs have expressed concern over the changes to the local pokie market. Clubs Australia has speculated that the reduced returns will have a negative effect on funding for sports organizations and other community groups.
"It's a tax grab that will be directly responsible for the withdrawal of funding to local cricket and footy teams and children's sport,” says Anthony Ball, Executive Director of Clubs Australia. “And that will be on the government”. Gambling is not the only industry that is being overhauled in order to benefit the government, as the Transport industry will see a fare hike and an increase in parking rates.
The weekend fares for public transport will nearly double while the cost of parking spaces in the inner city will increase to $950. The government anticipates that the changes will result in a $221.8 million surplus this year. By 2017, it is expected to grow to more than $2 billion.
About the Author
