Greens unveil plan to ban all pokie machines at council-owned venues

The Greens say they will ban pokie machines at all council-owned venues across Brisbane if elected in March. VOTE IN POLL

The Greens have unveiled a plan to ban all pokie machines in council-owned venues across Brisbane, claiming the council is a “pokies landlord” with more machines than the Treasury Casino.

The party says it matched state government Office of Liquor and Gaming data with Brisbane City Council community leases data, which showed council “owned” a total 2029 pokie machines across 26 venues.

This is compared to 1300 pokie machines at the Treasury Casino.

Greens mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan said under the plan, pokies would be phased out of each venue as leases were renewed and replaced with live music.

“To support clubs to develop alternative revenue streams, we’ll directly fund free-entry original live music gigs in 50 non-profit venues across suburban Brisbane, so that people can go to a gig in their own neighbourhood on a Saturday evening or Sunday arvo,” he said.

“It’s not surprising so many community clubs have turned to pokies, since the LNP Council has been underfunding basic club maintenance for 20 years, pushing those costs onto small non-profit organisations.

Greens Jonathan Sriranganathan. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

“Our proposal to increase direct funding for clubs helps support the local live music scene while also saving residents millions in gambling losses.”

The Greens calculated that Brisbane residents lose an estimated total of $163 million to pokies at council-owned venues every year, with an individual poker machine taking an average of $80,397 from users every year.

The Greens are also running campaigns to stop another 200 pokies from being placed into the former Stafford Bowls Club and the former Greenslopes Bowls Club, claiming the Brisbane Racing Club is “pushing pokies into council venues in poorer neighbourhoods”.

Greens candidate for Coorparoo Ward Kath Angus said the Greenslopes community did not want their local club turned into a “pokies den”.

“We need arts, music, and vibrant community spaces, we need childcare and youth clubs, we shouldn’t be exploited because this LNP Council won’t fund community infrastructure,” she said.

The Greens plan to reimburse clubs losing money from the pokies ban through an annual $5 million Rebuilding Clubs infrastructure grant, which would go towards high-quality kitchens, airconditioning, staging and soundproofing, as well as additional annual funding from a $6 million Suburban Sounds program to help boost venue attendance.

Volunteers with Kath Angus, Greens candidate for Coorparoo Ward and Max Chandler-Mather, Greens MP for Griffith, door knocking as part of their campaign to stop pokies at the former Greenslopes Bowls Club. Picture: Greens Party

The Greens last week proposed a plan to spend $500 million over four years on 200 new pedestrian crossings and 35km of bike lanes, as well as 200km worth of new and upgraded footpaths and 100 traffic calming projects.

The LNP team behind Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has hit out at the proposal saying it, and other Greens-led campaign promises, would be funded through road infrastructure cuts.

“The Greens’ road funding cuts will be used to pay for their growing list of big spending promises,” a spokesman for team Schrinner said.

“These promises include plans to rip out vehicle lanes throughout Brisbane and replace them with bikeways, spending $400 million annually on a “paying the rent policy” and resuming Eagle Farm racecourse.

“Examples of road projects at risk under a Green/Labor Coalition of Chaos include the Moggill Road Corridor and Beams Road upgrades as well as Council’s support for the proposed new Gympie Road Bypass Tunnel.”

Team Schrinner labelled the Greens’ plans “dangerous,” claiming they would add to Brisbane’s growing congestion, while a Schrinner-led council would “keep Brisbane moving”.

The Greens’ plan to ban pokies: 

Generic pokie machine.

• Ban pokies at Council venues by prohibiting machines under new or renewed leases, removing a total of 2,000 pokies from these publicly owned venues
• Bring live music and culture to the suburbs by funding free weekly gigs and performances at 50 community venues, at least one per Council Ward, with our $6 million per year Suburban Sounds program to bring neighbours together and boost venue attendance
• Breathe life back into our clubs with our $5 million per year Rebuilding Clubs infrastructure grants for high-quality kitchens, airconditioning, staging and soundproofing, and hands-on support from a Council clubs unit

Originally published as Greens unveil plan to ban all pokie machines at council-owned venues