Poker machine clubs are some of the most lucrative venues in Australia; however, club owners believe that they are losing out on earning potential due to restrictive licensing laws. Now, the RSL has made a submission to the Victorian government requesting that pokie licenses are extended from five years to ‘in perpetuity’. RSL clubs are concerned that the limited poker machine licenses stops them from being able to plan ahead.
This has a negative effect on their earning potential, and they believe that issuing lifetime pokie licenses would rectify the issue. The last time pokie licenses receive an extension was in 2010. At this time, the Victorian government extended licenses for pokies located outside of Crown Casinos until 2022. They were ten year licenses, but the RSL feels that the state government can to much better than that.
“Perpetuity would be the preferred term length as any shorter offer would only see the current issues deferred until a date closer to the end of the extension,” reads the submission from RSL Victoria. “A second option may be 10-year rolling entitlement terms whereby a venue operator annually renews and commits to the new period.” Anti-gambling campaigns have spoken out against this submission.
The Victorian Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce has argued that licenses should only be extended for a maximum of 5 years, and that they should only be granted to venues that are strapped for cash. As poker machine laws get increasingly strict, so it is not entirely likely that the Victorian government will grant the extensions.
The state has introduced a number of pokie-related bans, such as banning the use of headphones and the use of ATMs at clubs. So, state politicians are likely to be reluctant to change pokie entitlements in such a drastic way.
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