The Manningham Council in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne has purchased the local Returned and Services League (RSL) club in order to make sure controversial poker machines do not infiltrate the place. A campaign aimed at encouraging a further 30 municipalities to do the same was also launched by the Council.
Ron Twinning, president of Templestowe RSL, secretly lobbied for the club to be bought by the Manningham Council to prevent the venue from becoming home to pokies or sold off to developers. He came up with the idea after he saw the tragic financial state of the venue, which is operated by trustees but if a financial failure occurs, the place’s ownership is reverted to the Victorian branch of the organisation.
The venue was purchased at the price of AU$1.25 million by the Manningham Council on Friday, and on December 15th the new owner voted to lease the club back to the local Returned and Services League for a period of twenty years. The lease deal was agreed under the condition that it is to prevent the operation of poker machines there.
However, Mr Twinning explained that in case the state branch takes over the RSL club, it might bring poker machines there, and he opposed the idea. This is exactly why he decided to propose to sell off the place to the highest bidder.
Pokies Wipe AU$58 Million Out of the Community Every Year
Andrew Conlon, mayor of Manningham, explained that so-called pokies that are hosted at seven venues in the municipality have ended up wiping out a total of AU$58 million from the community on an annual basis.
Mr Conlon also explained that both parties promised that poker machines will not be offered in the Templestowe Village activity centre. He further shared that the wide promotion of pokies over the past ten years and even selling off some financially struggling venues to developers to host poker machines there has taken its toll on local communities.
Poker machines, also known as pokies, have long been blamed for causing problem gambling behaviour among more vulnerable society members.
According to data provided by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR), the state residents lost the staggering AU$2.7 billion on poker machines situated in local clubs and pubs in 2019. That is why Manningham Council voted unanimously for the mayor to write to about 30 more councils in the state of Victoria, including some areas with relatively high gambling addiction rates such as Brimbank, Dandenong, Geelong, Monash and Whittlesea, and tell them about the model.
The Manningham Council will hopefully be a reliable and caring landlord. It is expected to spend about AU$155,000 to bring some upgrades to the building. The move was considered a strategic one for the council, as the RSL club was the only privately-owned piece of land at Templestowe Village.
- Author
Daniel Williams
