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Casino
Canberra
News
Casino
Canberra Wants Bigger and Better Pokie Deal, by Greg
Tingle - 27th December 2010
Casino
Canberra is making more noise about wanting its Xmas
wish of 200 poker machines, with their marketing director
Peter Cursley going on record with the region top
getting "hung up" on numbers. The ACT has
more one armed bandits per head of population than
any other Australian state or territory. They are
king! A report by the Gambling and Racing Commish
found the number of ACT adults participating in gambling
had dropped from 72.9% in 2001 to 69.8% in 2009. The
number who played pokies dropped from 38.1p% in 2001
to 30.2%. Pokies remain a game of preference for punters
young and old, both in land based venues and online.
When Casino Canberra opened for business two decades
ago, it apparently did so on the understanding that
it operate no machines, and be the only casino in
Australia not to operate them. Cursley advised this
provision became "redundant from day one".
We are yet to get to the bottom of this but are investigating
further. In its submission to the ACT Government's
tax review, the casino said it desired to utilize
machine licences held by the Government in surplus.
Now, just 3 weeks back, Gaming and Racing Minister
Andrew Barr announced he would remove those licences
from circulation in a bid to further curb problem
gambling. "The bottom line is we want 200 machines
and we're prepared to pay," Cursley said. "We
don't care where they come from." He said valuable
business opportunities were being lost by the long-term
ban on poker machines at the venue. It's a move and
public stance bound to add fuel to the fire re anti-gambling
groups, the casino says the arrangement would benefit
the community, contributing $10 million in one-off
licence fee revenue to the Government. It would in
addition contribute 30% in gross gaming revenue tax,
which would deliver an annual revenue stream of about
$4 million to the ACT Government. The casino was also
prepared to go on record that it would employ 20 new
staff members which would contribute roughly $60,000
in payroll tax to the Government's account each year.
Will money talk, as the AC/DC song goes? Cleopatra,
Sinatra, Monopoly Black Rhino, Where's The Gold, Top
Gun and Mission: Impossible are understood to be some
of the pokie titles Casino Canberra is keen to get
its hands on.
Canberra
Casino
Canberra
Casino (or Casino Canberra) is a casino located in
Civic in the central part of the Australian capital
city of Canberra. It was the first legal casino to
open in the city. The casino is relatively small compared
with other casinos. It has blackjack, roulette and
many other games. It opened on 29 July 1994, after
vociferous opposition from Dr Hector Kinloch of the
Residents Rally, although a temporary casino had been
put in place before that at the National Convention
Centre, which had opened in 1992.
The Casino has the only licence to operate gambling
tables in the Australian Capital Territory. It is
unlike many casinos in that it does not operate poker
machines. The casino has in the past tried to lobby
the government to allow poker machines in the casino,
but failed due to the efforts of the gambling industry
in Canberra's clubs, who fear the loss of revenue
from poker machines there.
Website
Casino
Canberra
Canberra
Profile
Canberra
is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia.
With a population of over 320,000, it is Australia's
largest inland city. The city is located at the northern
end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (174
mi) south-west of Sydney, and 650 km (404 mi) north-east
of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was selected for
the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a
compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest
cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being
an entirely purpose-built, planned city. Following
an international contest for the city's design, a
design by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin
and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction
commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced
by the garden city movement and incorporates significant
areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra
the title "bush capital". Although the growth
and development of Canberra were hindered by the World
Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving
city after World War II.
As
the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra
is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of
Australia and numerous government departments and
agencies. It is also the location of many social and
cultural institutions of national significance, such
as the National Gallery of Australia and the National
Museum of Australia. The federal government contributes
the largest percentage of Gross State Product and
is the largest single employer in Canberra. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
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