The next profit report might be a little smaller.
Yesterday South Sydney executive chairman Peter Holmes a Court,
with full backing of his Hollywood star
business partner Russell Crowe, announced his club would be turning its back on
poker machines.
They should not be required in his “professional,
inclusive modern club”, Holmes a Court declared.
“Poker machines are something we believe are not
right for Redfern,” Holmes a Court said last night. “We believe the
community wants us to provide a gaming-free environment.”
For more than 50 years, poker machines and rugby league
have fit together like a beggar’s hand in a glove. South
Sydney will create history by breaking that link.
The club premises, on Chalmers St, Redfern, are undergoing
a $35 million redevelopment. The project includes 12,000sq m of commercial
space, a $3 million refit for the leagues club and new administrative offices.
Holmes a Court is adamant pokies won’t be needed when the
club opens in May next year. He believes quality food and drink, good
entertainment and conference facilities will make up for any shortfall.
Even with pokies, Souths never travelled smoothly. For the
15 years prior to the club being put into administration in 2006, an estimated
$100 million – much of it in poker machine spending – was poured by the local
community into the club.
“But the community didn’t get any back and still it
went broke,” he said.
Holmes a Court hails from Western Australia, where no club has pokies.
“There are plenty of other bars and restaurants and
clubs in other countries and cities where I have been that don’t need gambling
to survive,” he said.
Discarding the poker machines would open the club up to a
whole new audience, including many who are uncomfortable with large gaming
floors.
The club has 160 machines in storage and that is exactly
where they will stay.
Each machine, according to averages for inner Sydney clubs, would bring
in up to $44,000 each in profit over a year. For 160 machines, that is equal to
more than $7 million.
Holmes a Court said the truth is that much of this cash
was from people who could not afford it.
He estimates are that more than 50 per cent of the cash
spent on gaming at the club has been coming from people on welfare benefits.
He said modern business was about corporate responsibility
and taking this money was not in the community’s best interest.
The club already had invested heavily in programs to help
those in need in the local community, including Souths Cares,
and he wanted to continue to help those in the area in need.
Many young people come to the club to be close to their
heroes, he said. They were better off without pokies making a racket in the
background.
Holmes a Court admits that the move is going to be
despised by others in the club industry, including the powerful lobby group
ClubsNSW.
He is keen to stress that it’s about what is good for
Redfern, not anywhere else.
“I accept a wager from time to time and gaming is a
reasonable pastime. I don’t believe everyone who enjoys gaming is evil. But
there is a time and a place for gaming and I don’t believe that South Sydney is the time or the place,” he said.
Club sources said many inner-city clubs were struggling to
keep gaming profits up in the face of aggressive competition from hotels.
Souths may be just recognising the inevitable.
The 160 permits could also be sold on the open market to
other clubs at market rates – or maybe warehoused until better times.
Long-time anti-pokies campaigner Tim Costello is ecstatic
over the decision.
Reverend Costello said Holmes a Court was a true pioneer
in separating his club from the pokies dollar.
“I think other clubs should do what Peter has done
and listen to their communities. They are saying that pokies are doing damage
and we don’t like it,” Mr Costello said.
www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22441593-5001031,00.html