Barristers have started making their final submissions at the VCAT hearing to decide the Castlemaine pokies battle.
Mount Alexander Shire Council is appealing the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation's (VCGR) decision earlier this year to grant Maryborough Highland Society (MHS) a licence to open a club, complete with 65 poker machines, in the old railway goods shed, in Kennedy Street, Castlemaine.
The matter
is being heard by VCAT Deputy President Mark Dwyer and the hearing is due to finish tomorrow, Friday, December 14.
During their
final submissions, barristers get the opportunity to present their cases to the
panel member, they can refute and accept expert opinion and advise the Deputy
President on which parts of the evidence they believe should be given more
weight when it comes to Mr Dwyer making his final decision.
Victorian
Commission for Gambling Regulation barrister Liam Brown `opened the batting’ for
the barristers as he described it.
Mr Brown outlined
the various laws that applied to the case and the recent history of the
relevant Act.
There were
no major surprises in Mr Brown’s summary. He basically re-affirmed the
Commission’s decision to grant MHS a licence for 65 poker machines at the
proposed Castlemaine venue but stressed there was one significant difference in
the two hearings.
He said he believed the tribunal's final decision in this case would come down to the net detriment test, which means the proposal can have a positive or even neutral effect on a community but not a negative one.“In totality, it (what was presented to the tribunal) wasn’t vastly different to what was presented before the Commission and on that basis, the Commission maintains its reasons for the decision were sound,” Mr Brown said.
“But the identity
of the ultimate permit holder is the key difference between the two hearings.
“The
Commission placed greater weight on the character, integrity and experience of
Maryborough Highland Society as the holder of the permit but that no longer
remains the case and it is not clear who the ultimate permit holder is.
“It is
likely the entitlements will be transferred to the Castlemaine Sports and
Community Club (The Club) … but the Club has no experience in running a club, servicing
gaming machines plus it still has to apply for a venue operator’s licence and there is no guarantee it will get
it.
“The MHS
will exercise substantial control over the (management of the) operation.
“In considering
its decision, the Commission was very careful to place significant weight on
the identity of the Society as the permit holder but the model put before the
tribunal is quite different to that put before the Commission. The motivations
for establishing The Club are also unclear.
“As a result
the Commission believes the weight given to the Society as the permit holder should
now be reduced when the tribunal is considering the final outcome.”
Mr Brown
went further saying the Commission gave weight to the MHS because it was an
experienced operator of gaming machines, but with a new entity (The Club) it
should be given reduced weight by the tribunal.
With regard
to community opposition to the proposal, he said there was nothing that had
been put forward to the tribunal that would have affected the Commission’s
decision.
“The
formation of The Club has garnered support for the proposal. The issue remains divisive
in the community with views both ways.
“In view of
the Romsey decision, weight must be given to community views … but it is very difficult
in this case because the views are very divided in the community.”
Mr Brown
said there positive and negative aspects when it came to the social impact with
the positives being that some part of the Castlemaine community would get a
clear benefit from using the new venue if they wished to use it; plus there was
the added benefit of redistribution of revenue to community groups.
The negative
aspects were the increased problem gambling and the community attitude towards
the proposal, he said.
Mr Brown
said there was no doubt the approval of this application would increase the
amount of competition for poker machines in the municipality, given that the
Cumberland Hotel was presently in a monopoly situation.
MHS
barrister Peter Caillard was next up to present his submission to Mr Dwyer but
it didn’t go as smoothly as Mr Caillard would have hoped. More in my next post tomorrow.
