By Casey Neill
Greater Dandenong councillors unanimously knocked back a bid for 20 new poker machines in Noble Park.
However, an independent report found the Club Noble project would “have a slightly positive net social and economic impact on the local community”.
At the Monday 8 May council meeting, Cr Tim Dark moved that his colleagues support the proposal in a submission to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) instead of adopting the officers’ recommendation to oppose it.
His alternative motion didn’t receive a seconder and lapsed.
“Given that they’re a community club, they’ve done a lot in terms of donations to multiple organisations,” he later told the Journal.
“They’re every good community citizens.
“While I completely understand that gambling is a significant issue, I believe there was merit in their application.”
Cr Matthew Kirwan moved the motion as recommended unopposed.
He said Greater Dandenong lost more money to electronic gaming machines (EGM) per adult than any other Victorian municipality.
Losses in 2015-16 topped $119 million, or $326,000 a day.
Cr Kirwan said not everyone was a problem gambler but 15 per cent of EGM users were, and they accounted for 40 per cent of EGM losses.
He said it was the most addictive form of gambling in Australia and three quarters of people being harmed by gambling principally used EGMs.
“It makes no sense to make these problems worse,” he said.
Cr Kirwan said the council had a clear policy to oppose more machines in areas of high disadvantage where there were already many machines.
He said Noble Park was one of most disadvantaged areas in the state and “it already has one of the greatest concentrations of EGMs in the whole of Melbourne”.
Cr Kirwan said Club Noble itself already had 50 machines.
But a social and economic impact assessment from Ratio Consultants submitted to the VCGLR concluded that the extra machines “will have a slightly positive net social and economic impact on the local community and more broadly with respect to the City of Greater Dandenong”.
“The application will enable the venue to undertake a renovation that will improve the layout and functionality of the venue including the provision of additional facilities,” Ratio managing director Colleen Peterson said in the report.
The club proposed to provide an addictions counsellor position “that will provide patrons with regular contact with a counselling service to discuss any issues or problems related to addictions”.
The extra machines would allow the club to employ at least five more people, and make a $60,000 yearly contribution to the Cyrene Centre to increase the capacity of its addictions counsellor.
“It is acknowledged that there is the potential for some disbenefit associated with the application, such as a potential increase in problem gambling,” the report said.
“These disbenefits are outweighed by the benefits associated with the application given that this is an existing venue.”
She said the top up of 20 EGMs was not expected to change the attractiveness of the venue to a problem gambler.
“Accordingly, the proposal will result in a slightly positive impact on the local community,” she said.
Club Noble declined to comment because the matter was proceeding to a public inquiry at the VCGLR next month, which it said was the most appropriate forum to discuss the application and its merits.
