Anti-pokies councillor Pat Daley to run for Dee Why RSL board
A northern beaches politician intends to change ‘the whole culture’ of a prominent Sydney RSL if he wins a role as a club director — but here’s why he has drawn almost immediate criticism for his plans.
Manly
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NORTHERN Beaches Councillor Pat Daley is taking his war on poker machines to the next level, electing to stand for the board of Dee Why RSL — leading to almost immediate criticism from the peak clubs body.
A spokesman for Clubs NSW said Mr Daley “doesn’t understand the rules and responsibilities of being a club director, which primarily are to protect the interests and the assets of club members”.
“Mr Daley’s hostility towards hospitality venues on the Northern Beaches comes as a surprise, given he twice applied to be the CEO of the NSW branch of the Australian Hotels Association, obviously believing he had an affinity with the business they are in, including entertainment, food, beverage and gaming.”
The spokesman called for Cr Daley to declare a conflict of interest in the council’s draft gambling strategy, which is to be debated at the next meeting on August 28.
“We would obviously expect, now that he has announced his candidacy for the Dee Why RSL board, that Cr Daley would recuse himself from the vote on Council’s Draft Gambling Strategy.”
Cr Daley said he would be running his ticket to take on the eight-person board at Dee Why RSL at its next annual general meeting, which is scheduled for November 18.
“I will be nominating as I believe the whole culture of the Board and senior management of the club has to change,” Cr Daley said.
“There is too much misery being perpetrated on both individuals and families and it has to stop. I have also been contacted by other members of the community who are considering nominating.
“There is a lot of concern out there about what is happening at the club and the harm being caused.”
He said he expected to have a full ticket to oppose the current board.
“Given the level of heat and concern and passion in the community, there will be no shortage of candidates to run for the board,” he said.
Cr Daley has been leading the charge to devise a poker machine strategy for the council since he was elected last year.
“As media director for the Salvation Army I put together major programs about problem gambling,” he said. “I have been involved with this issue for nearly 20 years.”
“Gambling is right up there with drugs and alcohol in terms of addiction and the problems it is causing in the community.
“We want to try and work with the clubs to minimise the harm, we are trying to be constructive not destructive.”
He said the council’s poker machine strategy was about harm minimisation, which has recently finished community consultation.
“We want to ensure we have no poker machines in council-owned properties, any council owned land,” he said.
“We want a complete cap on poker machine on the northern beaches.
“When the development applications are being assessed under the current legislation there is no power for council to stop poker machines being brought into the area, it is all controlled by the State Government.”
He said the “shocking situation that currently exists and operates in Dee Why RSL needs to be called out, they have by far the most poker machines on the peninsula”.
“They are open to 4am, who is going there until 4am? It is a major casino operation.”
But the Clubs NSW Spokesman said: “Successive boards of directors and management teams have turned Dee Why RSL into an iconic club and an important and popular hub for the people of the northern beaches.
“Dee Why RSL already offers a suite of harm-minimisation programs, including multi-venue self-exclusion, the ClubSAFE premium counselling service and an in-house Salvation Army chaplain.
“The Club has also publicly backed ClubsNSW calls for the introduction of a system of third party exclusions which would allow families to work with the club to intervene by excluding a loved one with a gambling problem.”