New bid to cut pokies

By Tania Martin
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges will now have stronger powers to refuse gaming machine applications.
It has been selected as one of 13 Victorian councils to receive State Government funding to help develop new planning powers over the introduction of gaming machines.
The council will receive up to $25,000 to set up a new planning framework.
Chandler Ward councillor Graham Warren said although the funding was welcomed by the council, it would like to see all gaming machines taken out of the shire.
“People spent $4.5 billion on gaming in Victoria last year and half of that would have gone straight down the throat of gaming machines,” he said.
“We (the council) would prefer not to have gaming machines and have advocated for the government to wean themselves off the tax that pokie machines provide.
“The State Government last year reaped $4.26 million a day in gambling taxes which is a huge cost to the community.”
The shire now has 427 gaming machines, which have netted $19.6 million in revenue since July 2006.
Cr Warren said the council and the government need to continue to work towards limiting the impact of gaming machines by abolishing them all together.
“We managed for 200 years without gaming machines and I don’t see why we can’t do that now.”
Rae Perry, chief executive of the Victorian Local Government Association, said the funding would give councils planning powers over pokie venues.
“The onus will be on the councils to develop appropriate frameworks and policies to make consistent decisions in the best interests of their communities,” she said.
“These grants will ensure that the recipient councils, who face particular challenges in this area, will be able to respond effectively to this new responsibility.”
Cr Warren said the new powers would enable the council to create a planning policy that will support the basis of its decision making.
“It won’t give us a cast iron guarantee that the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) won’t overrule our decisions but it will strengthen our planning power,” he said.
“We (the council) have been campaigning for more control over gaming machines because we see the social dysfunction that these machines cause,” Cr Warren said.
Cr Warren said he didn’t know whether the new planning powers would hold any weight with VCAT, but hoped that they would be considered.
“If it works then that’s a step forward for the council but if VCAT continues to override our decisions then it will be a waste of money,” Cr Warren said.