It is not so much a quandary as an exquisite dilemma that confronts Chief Minister Andrew Barr over the question of poker machines at the Canberra Casino. There are none at present, this being a licence condition imposed by the territory government on the casino's original owner/operator, Casinos Austria, back in 1992. The new owner, Hong Kong-based Aquis Entertainment wants this gone, and as an enticement has proposed a $330 million rebuild of the ageing venue into an "integrated resort" comprising hotels, bars, restaurants and shops and a new casino. It's even foreshadowed funding a 3300 square metre extension of the neighbouring National Convention Centre.
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That part of Civic being a backwater that's overdue for a makeover, the attractions of granting Aquis' wish need little elucidation. To do so, however, could well result in considerable blowback for Mr Barr's government.
The clubs and pubs that run the vast bulk of the Territory's poker machines wield enormous influence and have historically not been averse to flexing their muscle when they feel their interests are threatened. They're also large and providential sources for revenue for ACT Labor. For a Labor government to grant the casino the right to operate 500 machines (the minimum number it is apparently seeking) would be an act of quite astonishing defiance.
Despite having said previously that casino poker machines would not be tolerated (Casinos Austria asked repeatedly for the right to operate them over the 20 years that it owned the Canberra property), Mr Barr seems in no hurry to rule out the Aquis request. When managing director Justin Fung unveiled his development proposal in September, Mr Barr said he would await a full briefing before commenting; and he pointedly welcomed the show of confidence in the ACT economy.
The Chief Minister's fence-sitting would explain why the third biggest poker machine operator in Canberra, the Raiders group, has threatened to cancel a planned $18 million expansion of its Gungahlin club, with group general manager Simon Hawkins arguing that the move will devastate the industry. Mr Barr has dismissed Mr Hawkins's concerns, suggesting that "clubs have opened and closed, and expanded and contracted, for a variety of reasons unrelated to the casino in recent times". The veracity of that statement is not in doubt, and it further clouds Mr Barr's intentions.
Granting poker machines to the casino might not be the disaster many critics fear if it reduces the territory's overall gaming machine numbers. Under the government's approved trading scheme (by which the casino could be expected to secure its machines), one in four traded licences must be forfeited. Fears of market cannibalisation may not materialise either, since the casino would be chasing a different clientele to that of the clubs. But these claims are highly contestable.
Such are the development prizes on offer from Aquis that Mr Barr will be sorely tempted to give Mr Fung what he wants. For a politician whose party has strong financial ties to the clubs industry, Mr Barr's dilemma is indeed acute.
