Bruce Mathieson accuses Daniel Andrews of changing pokies contract
The pokies baron says none of the Victorian government’s proposed gambling changes were flagged when they sold 10-year poker machine leases to Endeavour Group two years ago.
Bruce Mathieson has accused the Victorian government of seeking to change the terms of 10-year poker machine leases midway through the contract, as about $200m has been wiped off the value of his Endeavour Group shares.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Gaming Minister Melissa Horne have announced sweeping reforms aimed at minimising pokies-related harm, including smaller spending limits, mandatory closing hours and slower spin speeds.
Under the reforms, all electronic gambling machines will require mandatory precommitment limits and carded play, which Mr Andrews and Ms Horne said would “put the power back” in the hands of patrons.
But Mr Mathieson said the changes weren’t flagged when Endeavour signed new 10-year poker machine leases with the government two years ago.
“Was it a big shock? Yes it was,” Mr Mathieson said about the proposed reforms.
“For the next 10 years to be able to operate the machines, you have to pay for that. That was done basically two years ago when they put a payment on every machine.
“None of that (talk of the reforms) were there then. I don’t know how you can sell a contract and then change it midway through.”
Endeavour shares sank 9.9 per cent to $5.64 on Monday against a flat broader sharemarket.
The losses wiped about $200m off the value of Mr Mathieson’s 15 per cent holding in the company, which was spun out of Woolworths in 2021 and owns a portfolio of hotel pokie venues across the country. But he was not concerned about the share plunge.
“If you haven’t sold, you’ve lost nothing,” he said.
“That’s the way you look at it. I don’t worry about those things – if I did every night, I wouldn’t sleep.”
Mr Mathieson said the details of the changes were still up for negotiation.
“I don’t know what’s going to come out of it. These are the things that are on the table,” he said.
“It’s like when you go out to do a union negotiation. Things are on the table and what ends up is what ends up. I don’t really have anything to with it but I think there is quite a lot to go.”
In a statement Endeavour said it “welcomed the opportunity to work closely with the government” via its working groups set up to determine the model and timeline for the proposed changes.
“There is still a great deal of detail to work through including implementation timelines – and so it is very difficult to speculate on the impact of these reforms at this time,” Endeavour said.
“However it is worth noting that if introduced, these reforms would be consistent with measures either already in place or being considered by several other states, including some of which Endeavour Group is already working with governments and regulators to help trial and introduce.”
The government will be closely monitoring a trial at Crown Melbourne, where there will be mandatory precommitment and carded play on all machines from the end of 2023.
By mid-2024 there will be mandatory closure periods for all gaming machine areas in a venue between 4am and 10am, excluding Crown Melbourne, to target staggering opening hours to allow users time to move between venues in one area to continue gambling.
A spokeswoman for Crown Resorts said: “We remain focused on Crown’s vision to become a world leader in harm minimisation and delivering on our reform and remediation program.”
The Andrews government will be closely monitoring a trial at Crown Melbourne, where there will be mandatory precommitment and carded play on all machines from the end of 2023.
About 330,000 people across Victoria experience gambling-related harm each year, to the tune of $7 billion annually and leading to significant consequences.
Mr Andrews said on Sunday: “These reforms will provide the strongest gambling harm preventions and anti-money laundering measures in Australia”.
“We owe it to all Victorians to take this stance and help those experiencing harm turn their lives around,” he said.
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