Clubs’ ‘deliberately dishonest campaign’ exposed

A screenshot of page 14 of the Clubs 'Future Directions' document. This is not what club representatives or the industry has been saying publicly. This information has been available since July.

Independent Senator for South Australia Nick Xenophon says confidential briefing sheets uploaded onto the internet by Clubs Queensland show the poker machine industry is involved in a “deliberately dishonest campaign of misinformation about poker machine reforms”.

“These training documents are proof that the Clubs industry has been deliberately misleading the public. These documents are their battle plan, and that plan involves outright deception,” Senator Xenophon said.

Clubs Australia has consistently claimed that the Federal Government’s planned poker machine reforms will see a drop in revenue from poker machines of 40 per cent.

But confidential training notes from a Clubs organised conference held in Cairns on 19-20 July this year show the Clubs secretly expect the drop to only be between 10 and 20 per cent.

“This is proof, in black and white, that the Clubs have been misleading journalists, they’ve been misleading their members, they’ve been misleading politicians and they’ve been misleading the general public,” Senator Xenophon said.

“They have been telling members they are going to lose their Clubs, when the bosses know that is not the case. This conference happened months ago and since it was held Clubs spokespeople have still been pushing the 40 per cent figure.”

The documents also outline ways clubs can get around proposed restrictions on the use of ATMs in venues. Suggested alternatives include building small ATM alcoves just outside of venues or providing mobile ATM’s on trailers in carparks. Photographs of these options were also included.

“The attempts to get around the ATM restrictions are sick and cynical,” Senator Xenophon said.

“How desperate are these Clubs to get around the rules that they would be building ATM alcoves and bringing in ATMs on the backs of trailers?”

Media training documents also presented at the conference tell Clubs what they can and can’t say and encourage staff to be dishonest about the availability of spokespeople if the Club is contacted by a journalist.

“These documents show this industry will do whatever it can to keep pokie addicts on their machines, even if that means misleading journalists, the public and their own members,” Senator Xenophon said.

“This is proof you just can’t trust what the Clubs are saying. Their dishonesty has been exposed by their own training manuals.

“I renew my challenge to the Clubs bosses to debate me on the facts at the National Press Club.”

The document also raises the question of reducing non-essential expenses and ‘community support’ to cope with the ‘Wilkie Reforms’.

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