The Liberal government released its Future Gaming Market policy, calling for changes to the operation of EGMs in hotels and clubs moving from a single gaming operator model to an individual venue operator model, whilst the networking monitoring licence for EGMs in hotels and clubs would be put out for tender.
Network Gaming (Tasmania) business which was set up in 1996. Tis manages the distribution of EGMs and keno in the hotels and clubs throughout Tasmania operating under the Oasis Gaming and TASkeno brands.
Tere are 96 Oasis gaming rooms located in venues across Tasmania whilst TASKeno is available in more than 150 venues. Its Odyssey (Queensland) brand is a technology developer offering programmes to Queensland’s club and hotel industry.
Te Federal Group today is Tasmania’s largest private sector employer and saw revenues of $108m in 2018/19 and employs around 2,000 Tasmanians.
SPANNER IN THE WORKS
In 2015, David Walsh appeared on the scene and ripples in the monopoly began to form. Walsh is an art collector and professional gambler who grew up in Glenorchy on the Derwent River and after making his fortune from large-scale horse race betting, returned to the area where he grew up to build a museum called MONA - the Museum of Old and New Art.
P116 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Te museum opened in 2011 and is an extravagant and avant-garde private museum located 11km north of Hobart. Te museum offers Tasmanians free admission, whilst also attracting high-end tourists and investment.
In 2015, Walsh proposed that he open a small high-end casino, operating just table games, to offset the cost of running the museum.
Te plan was for a pokie-free casino with 12 tables, whilst only non-resident Tasmanians would be permitted. Revenue would go towards MONA and related projects. Tere were plans to call the casino Monaco and it would include a 160-room hotel, function room and theatre.
A discussion was opened up with Federal Group who agreed to the casino if its own pokie licence was extended beyond 2023. Walsh refused, claiming pokies were ‘antisocial and insidious’ and pulled the plug on his $200m proposed investment.
Tis suddenly brought the thorny subject of gambling in the state to a head, and as the 2018 election approached, with the Federal Group’s licence due to expire in 2023, gaming legislation dominated the election period.
Labor announced it would get rid of pokie machines from pubs and clubs completely if they were elected. However, the Liberals, heavily backed by the state’s hospitality industry and the Federal group, won the majority and the opposition later dropped its policy.
Ten came the curve ball as the Liberal government released its Future Gaming Market policy. Tis called for changes to the operation of EGMs in hotels and clubs moving from a single gaming operator model to an individual venue operator model, whilst the networking monitoring licence for EGMs in hotels and clubs would be put out for tender.
And so, amendments to the Gaming Control Act 1993 were passed by parliament in November 2021 and the changes will take place from July 1 2023. Tese will bring an end to Federal’s exclusivity in operating EGMs in Tasmania, costing the Group around $25m per year in gambling revenue.
Te Gaming Control Amendment (Future Gaming Market) Bill 2021 amends the Gaming Control Act of 1993 includes the following:
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