Greens minister Shane Rattenbury says he will not support cash grants for clubs that surrender their poker machines, as the government reviews incentives for clubs that diversify their income streams.
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Clubs will be forced to forfeit their licences from April next year, as the government cuts the number of authorisations from 4985 to 4000.
The 4000-machine cap was a 2016 election promise, and ACT Gaming Minister Gordon Ramsay said it would be met no later than May 1, 2020.
Former Commonwealth departmental secretary Neville Stevens AO will hand a report to Mr Ramsay by the end of next month, recommending options to give clubs financial and non-financial incentives to diversify their revenue away from poker machines.
But Mr Rattenbury said the Greens would not support a "simple payout" for poker machine authorisations, saying they were a "privilege" not a "right to print money".
“These licences were given to clubs free in the first place, they were issued as authorisations and an entitlement to purchase poker machines and operate them.
"They’re not actually a licence in that sense so I think giving them a clear sense of the timeline and retiring them is the appropriate way to go, I don’t think they should be paid for.
"I think the government has got an important role to play though in helping the clubs transition into being more sustainable, to having more diverse sources of income. I think there are more measures that we should be taking, rather than handing over cash."
Mr Ramsay said the incentives review was not about compensation.
"What we are seeking here is continuing to build a sustainable, diverse, community clubs sector, and diversify away from a reliance on gaming revenue," Mr Ramsay said.
"That’s always been the intention and what I’ve asked Mr Stevens to look at are what are the things that are going to give effect to that, financial or non financial. We know there’s not going to be one-size-fits-all, one solution."
Mr Ramsay said the $10,000 grant and 50 per cent tax rebate given to clubs with a pokies turnover of less than $4 million was already helping small to medium clubs diversify their revenue streams.
He said Burns Club had used their rebate to install solar panels, and other clubs had built new performance spaces and upgraded their dance floors to support more live music and events.
Asked directly whether poker machines had a future in the ACT, Mr Ramsay said relying on electronic gaming machines was a "dying model and clubs have recognised that".
"We know there is a whole range of reasons why that’s the case - it’s because of demographic reasons, it’s because of technological advances, it’s because of an increased awareness of harm minimisation," Mr Ramsay said.
"What it is that we want to be able to do essentially is build a sustainable, strong, diverse clubs sector without that gaming reliance on gaming machines."
