There were several witnesses called in the VCAT hearing to decide
the Castlemaine pokies fight on Tuesday afternoon including EPIC president
David Stretch and several other well-known Castlemaine identities.
Chan Nyok, past president of the East African Community in
Castlemaine, took the stand after lunch.
Mr Nyok told the hearing there were about 50-70 people from
the East African culture in Castlemaine.
“Some of them have families in Melbourne and go home on
Fridays and return to Castlemaine on Sundays,” Mr Nyok said.
“Poker machines have an effect on our community and can
damage our culture,” he said. “My people hear about someone wins some money so
they start to play the machines and then it becomes very hard for them to stop.”
Mr Nyok said he had been trying to help his people who had become addicted and regularly counselled members of his community.
He said he opposed a new pokies venue in Castlemaine because
it would mean a lot more machines, which would have a negative impact on his
community.
John Walter, the owner of Stonemans Bookroom in Castlemaine,
also gave evidence yesterday afternoon.
Mr Walter told the tribunal his family had first settled in
Castlemaine back in the 1850s and that gambling was a family trait.
“I went to races rather than the football and my grandfather
was an SP bookmaker,” he said.
“Life changed when poker machines hit Victoria – we used to
go regularly to the river to play them.
“I lost control, members of my family lost control. I am a
compulsive gamber and that is why I am here today – we don’t need any more
machines in Castlemaine.”
Mr Walter said pokies had cost him a lot both financially and
personally.
“I should be living on easy street and quite wealthy.”He said he rang Gamblers Help and now gets weekly counselling from several sources to help him beat the addiction.
The prospect of another pokies venue in Castlemaine was daunting, he said.
“It’s just in your face again. I can’t see how we need extra
machines; what’s (already) there isn’t being utilised.”
Alex Perry, the owner and chef of The Good Table in
Castlemaine, said the proposed new pokies venue would have a negative impact on his and
other businesses in the town.
Mr Perry said he was a member of the Castlemaine Chamber of
Commerce, which involves 10 local businesses, and meets on a monthly basis.
He said the café/restaurant part of the local retail sector
was already very challenging.
“We have got about 20 cafes/restaurants in Castlemaine and
most of them are small, family operated businesses,” Mr Perry said.
“One exception is the Cumberland Hotel, which has poker
machines, so it’s easier for them to charge less for their meals because they
are subsidised by the pokies.”
He said the prospect of another pokies venue in the town
would hit the local cafes hard – particularly the smaller ones.
Mr Perry also said the proposed new club would be out of
character in the town.
“Castlemaine (eateries) have been attracting a lot more
tourists to the town but this bigger sort of venue is going in the opposite
direction.”He said he was concerned that if the new club went ahead, Castlemaine would lose its unique appeal and become just like any other country town.
Enough Pokies in Castlemaine (EPIC) president, David Stretch
said the group was a “grass roots organisation that started in August, 2010 when
news of the proposed new pokies venue with 65 machines became known in
Castlemaine.
Mr Stretch said about 90 concerned local residents attended
a meeting at Winters Flat Primary School and the group has grown enormously
since then.
“The EPIC membership list reads like the make-up of the town
– it is a greatly diversified group that represents a cross-section of the
community including people who are retired, young, tradespeople, those who have lived in
Castlemaine for a long time and others who have just moved there,” Mr Stretch
said.
“It is this uniqueness that is the essence of the town and
what makes it different to any other town. It is why so many people were horrified
by the proposal and why there is such very strong opposition to it in
Castlemaine.”
Mr Stretch said he believed the Maryborough Highland Society
(MHS) had been “extremely surprised” at the level and depth of opposition to
the proposed pokies venue in the town.
He said there was clear evidence it would have a negative social
impact on the town.
“Our feeling is that it will increase crime and problem gambling
in our community. It will have very limited economic benefits and it will pull
tens of millions of dollars out of a small town, which will have an impact on
the existing local retail sector and tourism.”
Mr Stretch said the EPIC committee did not sanction any of
the comments or actions made at a public meeting, which was called by the MHS
to give information to the Castlemaine community about the proposal.
“If the community has acted inappropriately it was under
people’s own volition, it was not sanctioned by the committee.”
He said the `aggressive' campaign run by EPIC
against the proposal was really a vigorous protest.
“We didn’t invite MHS into our town. And we have a right to
defend the community in which we have chosen to live in.”
Mr Stretch said there were passionate people on both sides of the
debate.
As the proprietor of the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine, he
said if the proposed new venue went ahead it would have a significant impact on his and other
businesses in the own.
“It will have an extraordinary impact on the long-term
viability of retail in Castlemaine – something like this has the potential to
change retail in Castlemaine forever.”
MHS barrister Peter Caillard asked Mr Stretch if he was concerned about the competition
the new club would have on his own business.
“I am concerned about the impact this venture will have because
it (the new club) has the ability to provide live entertainment, food and
beverages on the back of poker machines – my venue can’t. It’s not a level
playing field.”
Mr Caillard then tendered a document to the tribunal and asked
Mr Stretch if he had written it?
“Yes I did write this – it’s an email and it’s marked `confidential’,”
Mr Stretch said.
EPIC barrister, Susan Brennan, was quick to object to the recipient of the
email being identified and Mr Dwyer agreed.
Mr Caillard read excerpts from the email which suggested
that some people in Castlemaine would like the idea of the new venue.
He then asked Mr Strecth if he had contacted musicians
around the country asking them not to play at the new club?Mr Stretch said he had set up a Facebook page called `We Won’t Play Castlemaine Pokies’ for musicians to register their interest if they wanted to.
VCAT Deputy President Mark Dwyer asked Mr Stretch if his
opposition to the proposal was really about pokies or some other issue.
“My concern is that this venture will lead to the removal of
$4 million a year from a retail situation like ours,” Mr Stretch said. “There is
a finite sum of money available for retail in the town and if it leaves the community
through gambling then that is a problem for me.”
The hearing continues.
