Melbourne is the best when it comes to fine dining, night life and coffee culture in Australia. Another great thing about the city is the extensive amount of gaming venues open within the CBD, and the iconic Crown Casino along the Yarra River.
Updated October 05, 2016 09:29:32
Glenorchy's notorious 'pokies golden mile' could grow, with a new pub applying to operate 20 gaming machines in the area that already has Tasmania's highest losses.
Irish pub Paddy Wagon opened last month and applied to add poker machines to the venue.
Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston said the council considered the proprietor's planning application earlier this year and was surprised when she saw the licence application advertised.
'No mention of poker machines was made in that application,' Alderman Johnston said.
Even if the council had known of the proprietor's plan, it would not have been able to consider it when making their decision because it does not have the power to decide pokies applications.
'Broadly, council has a concern about poker machine prevalence in the community and the addition of 20 machines would have a devastating impact,' she said.
There are already 270 poker machines within the municipality and in July, poker machine expenditure in Glenorchy hit $2 million for the first time in the state's history.
Earlier this year, an interactive map released by Anglicare showed the area lost $20 million each year on pokies.
'Glenorchy City Council has the dubious title of having the 'golden mile' of poker machines located in our CBD,' Alderman Johnston said.
Independent Denison MP Andrew Wilkie vowed to fight the application, and intends to write to Glenorchy's 20,000 residents about the issue.
'The last thing, the very last thing, Glenorchy needs is another 20 poker machines located in the middle of the CBD.'
New pokies during review 'foolish'
Paddy Wagon's application has prompted calls for a moratorium on new machines while the Tasmanian Government considers their future in pubs and clubs.
The Government has announced its intention to reduce the cap on poker machines in pubs and clubs to the current number in venues of 3,530 from 2023.
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The policy which would also break Federal Group's monopoly on poker machine licences and put it out for tender, is being reviewed by a parliamentary committee.
'For there to be more poker machines while that process is underway would be quite concerning and indeed foolish for our community,' Alderman Johnston said.
Mr Wilkie also questioned how new pokies could be approved.
'What's the point of having a review if while the review is going on they are issuing licences for new poker machine venues?'
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The public has two weeks to respond to the application before the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission makes a decision.
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The proprietors of Paddy Wagon could not be contacted.
Topics:gambling, community-and-society, states-and-territories, glenorchy-7010
First posted October 05, 2016 06:26:08