Club ads under fire after poker machine profits revealed

An advertising campaign highlighting how clubs provide help for victims of floods and other disasters has been criticised after industry group ClubsNSW conceded some venues are given taxpayer-funded compensation for their efforts.

The state’s clubs, which this week were revealed to have made $2.1 billion from poker machines in 92 days last year, launched the public relations campaign as part of an effort to counter growing political momentum to crack down on the state’s poker machines.

“They provided food and shelter for those fleeing their homes during the bushfires and they offered up their venues as COVID vaccination clinics and testing hubs during the pandemic,” the ClubsNSW radio ads say.

“And, during the recent floods, several clubs stepped up as evacuation centres, plus the club industry has raised more than $900,000 since March 2022 to fund the flood clean-up and recovery efforts.”

The ads don’t disclose that clubs are compensated with a series of grants for their role in disaster relief.

ClubsNSW told the Herald about 60 clubs had offered help to local communities during the 2019 Black Summer bushfires and more than 30 had served as evacuation centres during floods in 2021 and last year, and some had been compensated to do so.

“While clubs are entitled to claim some compensation for meals provided to evacuees and emergency services personnel, medical supplies and for the wages of staff working during these events, the majority of clubs either claim the minimum amount to which they are entitled or do not pursue any claims at all,” a ClubsNSW spokesperson said.

The state government said clubs being used as evacuation centres could be reimbursed for their costs.

“This is for reasonable and extraordinary activities the facility has undertaken that would not have been incurred had the disaster not occurred,” a government spokesperson said.

But some poker machine opponents say the ads are distasteful.

“The message between the lines here is that ‘supporting clubs’ equals opposing poker machine reform in NSW – ignoring the Crime Commission’s recommendation for a cashless gaming card to prevent money laundering, and turning a blind eye to the epidemic of gambling harm in NSW,” Wesley Mission general manager Jim Wackett said.

Data from Liquor and Gaming NSW, released this week, shows losses from gaming machines reached a record high in the third quarter of 2022.

Of the $2.1 billion in profits taken by the state’s 86,000 poker machines between July and September, $1.2 billion – or 56 per cent – was from machines in clubs.

“If the $900,000 came from the clubs, that’s a fraction of the $12 million they siphon out of NSW communities every single day,” Wackett said.

“It’s admirable the clubs provided some venues to support those impacted by bushfires and floods but that is the very least they could do. There were plenty more schools, churches and community centres doing that as well who don’t feel the need to trumpet about it.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet said late last year he would take a policy of cashless gaming cards for the state’s poker machines to the March state election, to address rampant money laundering and problem gambling.

Labor has pledged to reduce the number of gaming machines, and run a small trial of cashless gaming cards.

NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said the ClubsNSW ads were a “cynical PR stunt”.

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