Club killer

By Melissa Grant
A LOOMING shake-up of Victoria’s gaming industry could spell the end of the Pakenham Sports Club and cut more than $100,000 in yearly donations to sports groups in Cardinia.
Steve Moloney, Pakenham Sports Club committee of management president, holds grave fears for the gaming venue’s future as the legislation begins to go through parliament.
The State Government is looking to auction gaming licences in 2012 – an arrangement which Mr Moloney says could see small pokies venues go under and local sports and community groups suffer.
“We won’t exist,” he said. The Pakenham Sports Club hands over more than $100,000 to various sporting groups – from the Pakenham Football Club to Little Aths. The funding also helps keep Pakenham’s Toomuc Reserve in tip-top shape.
“So many people benefit,” Mr Moloney said.
“It’s not just the Pakenham Football Club that benefits from the Pakenham Sports Club – it’s also all the clubs at Toomuc Reserve.”
Under the proposed legislation, individual pubs and clubs will have to bid for the right to own and operate poker machines from 2012.
Mr Moloney said while bigger venues had hundreds of millions of dollars in reserve, small clubs like the Pakenham Sports Club didn’t.
“We don’t have a war chest put aside,” he said.
“The little ones (clubs) will get squeezed out and the big ones will prosper.”
Poker machine revenue is split evenly between the State Government, the gaming operator and the venue under current licensing arrangements.
Clubs will get a larger slice of the profits if the new legislation is passed, but they will also have to buy poker machines and pay for their upkeep.
Recently the legislation was put to the Upper House, but the vote was tied at 18-18 with two members paired.
Eastern Victoria MP Edward O’Donohue anticipated the legislation would come before the house again during the next sitting week. He said the Opposition would continue to oppose the bill unless it offered some protection for small clubs.
“As it stands the Coalition will vote against it,” he said.
“The concern is about the bill’s lack of protection for community clubs.
“I’m not a big fan of pokies but if they’re going to have them let it benefit community sports.”