Club Grants Concessional Tax Rates - Question Without Notice
My question is directed to the Treasurer. If, in the upcoming budget, the Treasurer is going to continue to give clubs overly generous tax concessions for club grants and only tax mega‑rich clubs 26.55 per cent on all pokies profits over $5 million, what is the justification going to be for denying the people of New South Wales more than $2 billion to pay hardworking nurses, midwives and teachers higher salaries?
The Hon. DANIEL MOOKHEY (Treasurer) (11:24): I thank the member for her question. I offer the President no thanks whatsoever for his benevolence. Regarding the question, and all questions being asked about the budget from all sides of the Chamber, I note that the budget will be presented in a few weeks. The Government will unveil budget decisions at that time. There are two components to the rephrased version of the question. The first is about club grants and the second is about tax concessions. There is a distinction. They are not the same. The Government has been up-front about club grants. It has been reviewing them to ensure that the rules surrounding that club grant concession are being followed. The Government is undertaking that consultation and review in good faith, engaging with a myriad of people who have a particular interest in club grants.
The second issue is concessional tax rates. There is a differential rate of taxation for a dollar that is entered into a poker machine at a club versus a pub. The budget papers report on the value of that concession. I point out that in my second budget as Treasurer I provided additional information around how that tax concession is distributed, in response to the clamour for information that surrounds it. That has clearly informed the member's question, as it should. Part of the reason why we decided to provide that additional detail is because, when it comes to something like that—
Ms CATE FAEHRMANN (11:26): I note the Treasurer's response about the detail in the budget papers, which is much appreciated. However, we only need to look at the detail of the annual reports of all of the mega‑rich clubs to see that, for example, at Bankstown Sports Club, $115 million was raked in last year just on poker machines. How much tax did they pay? It was $30 million, or just 26 per cent. There are many other clubs that put that profit into hotels, resorts and restaurants. In a few weeks the Treasurer is going to say that there is not enough money in the budget to pay for some basics. Meanwhile, there are resorts operating in suburbs and sucking people's money into those machines and out of livelihoods and local businesses.
The Hon. DANIEL MOOKHEY (Treasurer) (11:28): Members know about my love of financial statements and reports, but I have not read those ones. I am happy to have a look at the annual reports for clubs. I cannot dispute the core of the member's analysis, because the budget papers last year and the year before revealed that 50 per cent of the value of the tax concession is captured by roughly 5 per cent of clubs in New South Wales. That is a point of fact. As for whether or not that is justified and what the rationale is, that is the core of the contest around this particular tax policy and, dare I say, all tax policies. I am of the view that the matter will remain under scrutiny by many people, as it should. The broader issue is around the broader reform agenda that the Government is undertaking. Whilst the member is focusing on this particular issue, I do not think it is a fair characterisation to say that it is the totality of the debate regarding the appropriate treatment of poker machines in New South Wales.