It must, in this day and age, be a rare occurrence for a casino not to offer electronic gaming machines. However, the machines that revolutionised the gaming world are not to be found at Casino Canberra in Australia’s capital city. It is a state of affairs that the casino would like to change but it is fighting an uphill battle against the ACT government.

The Australian Capital Territory’s Labor government is being accused of a conflict of interest over denying Canberra Casino a licence for slot machines. The casino offers roulette, blackjack, mini-baccarat, Pai Gow, Sic-Bo and poker but it is the government’s Labor clubs that make money from poker machines in the nation’s capital city. The clubs made over AUD14 million in profit from the machines in 2008-9, out of a total AUD98.6 million made by pokies in the Territory.

Canberra Casino has submitted a proposal for the installation of 200 machines to the Productivity Commission’s gambling inquiry, and estimates that it could add AUD3-4 million to the ACT economy, but the Treasury has rejected the plan. Arguing that the Canberra Casino licence was granted in the early 1990s on the understanding that gaming machines would not be allowed, the Treasury says that casino gaming machines would not fit the ACT community gaming model. (E-01.11.10)

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