Nsw Poker Machine Tax

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MARK COLVIN: After the much publicised stoush between the ad-man John Singleton and the NSW Premier Bob Carr, over that State's new tax on poker machines in licensed clubs, now comes a battle of the clergy on the same issue.
It began when 15,000 people braved the Sydney rain today to protest against the pokies' tax rises. Among them was the Catholic clergyman Father Chris Riley, who runs the Youth Off The Streets organisation.
But tonight another leading churchman has criticised Father Riley, for allowing himself unwittingly to become an apologist for the evils of gambling.
Nick Grimm has the story.
(Children chanting, 'Save our footy club')
NICK GRIMM: It all makes for a compelling and emotional plea. Today, the streets of Sydney witnessed the sight of small children, kitted out in their sporting uniforms, joining the protest against a new state government tax on poker machines.
They were among an estimated 15,000 protestors who braved the rain to march on State Government offices.
(Sound of protestors)
Those represented at the march included, as one speaker described it, a spectrum of people ranging from the young to the geriatric mafia.
Their message to the Carr Labor Government was that if it goes ahead with its attempt to increase its cut of the gambling revenue generated by the poker machines operated by the state's licenced clubs, it will mean less for all those who also rely on that money.
VOX POP 1: I belong to the Women's Auxiliary at Maroubra RSL Club and our club provides so many amenities to our auxiliary and to our sub-branch members.
VOX POP 2: We're protesting against the Carr Government, the taxing of our clubs. The communities will suffer and also the hospitals we donate to.
NICK GRIMM: The Chief Executive Officer of Clubs New South Wales, David Costello.
DAVID COSTELLO: The offices of Michael Egan perched up there 38 floors couldn't give a damn about the club industry, couldn't give a damn about community.
(Sound of crowd jeering)
NICK GRIMM: The State Treasurer, Michael Egan remains unmoved.
MICHAEL EGAN: All of the money, which this poker machine tax will raise – all of the increased tax – will be spent on our public hospital system. And I think virtually every person who attended the protest today, will benefit from a better public hospital system.
NICK GRIMM: Already the club industry has won high profile backers for its cause – today's rally was also addressed by a man who last year was named the State's 'Australian of the Year'.
Father Chris Riley, from the Youth off the Streets Organisation, has gained a high profile for his work with the homeless.
CHRIS RILEY: The government certainly do not support charity sufficiently, and now they're even saying they're going to take away one of our (inaudible) streams of funding by taking away… by taxing the clubs. That means not only will clubs go to the wall, many charities will go to the wall.
NICK GRIMM: Father Chris Riley, can I ask you: why did you get involve in today's protest?
CHRIS RILEY: I've worked with the very marginalised of our community and we have one of the greatest revenues for charities being, in a sense, taken away from us, and I just think that's really unfair – that the Government won't fund services like mine and are now also attacking the revenues that we previously did have available.
NICK GRIMM: But Father Riley, is it appropriate for a man of the cloth, such as yourself who works for an organisation helping the homeless, to come to the defence of the pokie palaces, as it were?
CHRIS RILEY: I think, I was very clear about and I thought about this very carefully. And there were 15,000 people there and I just can't understand why people's voices aren't heard.
And I did at the meeting… I was the only one that said, and I quote, 'I acknowledge that the great problem facing the community is people who are addicted to gambling and I call for the clubs to put in place systems and supports to help people fight this addiction.'
They will be more likely to do something about it than government, that's for sure.
NICK GRIMM: But Father Chris Riley's position has been attacked today by a leading anti-poker machine campaigner, the Reverend Tim Costello from the Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce.
TIM COSTELLO: Well, that's entirely misguided. It's quite a tragic misreading of the situation. You only have to go to the Productivity Commission report that looked into gambling in Australia and was shocked to find to find that not only do we have 21 per cent of all the world's pokies – 10 per cent of them are in New South Wales – and the highest levels of problem gambling anywhere in the world, are in the western suburbs of Sydney, driven by clubs.
Uh, that means, in human terms not just suicides but savings gone, marriages destroyed, kids going to bed hungry. So, to try and baptise pokies revenue by laundering it as some gift to charity is really terribly misguided and even fundamentally perverse.
MARK COLVIN: The Reverend Tim Costello from the Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce. Nick Grimm with that report.