A gambling reform advocate has hailed a decision by the state’s peak planning body to prevent 40 gaming machines from being installed at a South Morang pub.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last month ruled against an Australian Leisure and Hospitality (ALH) Group application for gaming machines at the Commercial Hotel.
The Plenty Road pub does not currently have any gaming machines.
The application sought to relocate 20 machines from other ALH Whittlesea venues to the Commercial Hotel and also install 20 new machines at the premises.
The ALH application was knocked back by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation in December, 2016, amid objection from Whittlesea council and the community. The company appealed the decision at VCAT, resulting in an 11-day hearing in the second half of last year.
On December 21, VCAT senior members Jonathan Smithers and Rachel Naylor upheld the commission’s decision, raising concerns about the negative impact of gaming machines.
In their ruling, they said Whittlesea’s pokie machine expenditure was $679 per adult, higher than the Melbourne average of $575.
Whittlesea Interagency Taskforce on Gambling spokesman Max Lee said the VCAT decision was important.
“It will be fundamental to shaping future policy,” he said. “Into the future, this decision will be a vital one.”
Mr Lee, who spoke at the hearing, said the gaming machines would have been detrimental to the community. He said Whittlesea was a young and growing community, with residents experiencing long travel times, high rates of mortgage stress, and limited social opportunities.
“Ultimately, this community was just not going to be helped by this application for more gaming machines,” he said.
Whittlesea mayor Kris Pavlidis described the VCAT ruling as a win for the community.
A spokesman for the ALH Group said the company would absorb the decision and reserved its right to appeal.
