Adelaide City Council bans pokies and gambling businesses from its venues
Trying to find a TAB could get a whole lot harder after the Adelaide City Council voted to ban all gambling in council-owned buildings.
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Pokies and other gambling businesses including TABs will be banned from operating in all Adelaide City Council-owned properties.
The council this week voted to introduce the policy for new lease agreements after beefing up an original proposal just to target pokies.
However, some councillors fear the ban goes too far and has the potential to capture X Lotto machines.
Deputy Lord Mayor Houssam Abiad, who pushed to widen the ban, said it was important to have a “concrete” position that the council does not support gambling in its premises.
“If council has a property it wants to lease, we do not want to have a tenant in there dealing with gambling,” Cr Abiad said. “That would include TABs in any of our properties.”
An SA Lotteries document suggests games including X Lotto, Oz Lotto, Powerball, Keno and Instant Scratchies can be considered gambling.
Cr Phil Martin said he would ask council staff about the “adverse” impacts of the new policy and what it could mean for retailers.
Cr Martin, who supported the pokies ban, said the information received would determine whether he would attempt to rescind the policy.
“We need to take action to correct the over-reaction of Team Adelaide,” Cr Martin said after the meeting.
“What we ended up with was a nincompoop motion on the fly that will almost certainly have adverse impacts on small businesses like newsagents,” Cr Martin said.
Cr Anne Moran, who supported banning pokies, said a wider gambling ban was a somewhat “draconian” outcome.
“It would have been wise to go with the original motion because now it is too broad and all the newsagents that sell lotto tickets will also be encompassed,” Cr Moran said.
“It is always better to get a report first before deciding the course of action.”
The Golden Wattle, on Pirie St, is the only business operating pokie machines in a council-owned building.
The new policy would not affect the pub’s current five-year lease, which ends in 2023 and includes renewal options.
The council could not say how many TABs or X Lotto outlets operated from its buildings.
Last financial year, punters spent more than $22 million on pokie machines across 38 venues in the CBD.