Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to inform the House about a very important issue which faced my local community recently—that is, the issue of poker machines. More importantly, I rise to publicly acknowledge and thank the hardworking local residents in my electorate of Kingston, who fought exceptionally hard to stop a new pokie venue being established and bringing into the area an additional 40 poker machines. It was announced in 2005 that a currently vacant building on the corner of a very busy intersection in Morphett Vale would be turned into a pokie palace, with a small eating area, a bar and, most importantly, 40 new poker machines. As you can imagine, the local residents were outraged at that possibility and joined me in a campaign to have the establishment of the venue stopped. The proposed venue was only 100 metres from a hotel with 32 existing poker machines and only 60 metres from residents, whose lives would have been in turmoil.

On Wednesday, 25 January, the City of Onkaparinga’s development assessment panel heard the application. The council planner had in fact recommended the application be approved. However, the panel heard representations from a number of local residents and groups, including the state member for Mawson and shadow minister for the southern suburbs, Robert Brokenshire; the state Liberal candidate for Reynell, Gary Hennessy; and me. In my submission to the panel I relied upon my experience as a former police officer to discuss the disastrous effects the venue would have on traffic in the area as well as the impact the limited parking and the noise emitted from the venue would have on local residents.

As a resident living in the southern suburbs and with the experience of being a former sergeant of police, having worked within the southern area for more than six years, I have seen first-hand the increased noise level from premises such as this, along with the many vehicle and patron issues that arise from a licensed premises operating into the early hours of the morning in a local suburb. As a former police officer and police youth officer, I have seen first-hand the impact on families of problem gambling addiction—that is, the trauma, separation, violence and suicide, particularly within an area which has a large percentage of low-income earners and hardworking families. Based on the strength of the representations from local residents and groups and the submission of in excess of 2,000 signatures we had obtained opposing the application, the panel voted to reject the development.

In 2005, following extreme pressure from a No Pokies MLC in South Australia, the Rann Labor government passed legislation reducing the number of poker machines permitted in hotels. But the legislation also included a loophole enabling clubs to avoid the reduction and even increase their holdings and create new venues, such as the one which was proposed for my area. The concept behind the Club One format is a rewarding one for local sporting and community groups, and I support that, but depending on the proposed locations it could create more issues and concerns than benefits.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local community for their support, particularly those organisations and individuals who made submissions to the panel. In a very short period of time, we were able to gain in excess of 2,000 signatures on a petition opposing the development. This particular portion of my electorate is full of hardworking residents and families who are genuinely concerned about the future of their area and the impact this venue would have on their children. This was a great result for residents of Adelaide South and shows what can be achieved when local members work together with their residents to make sure their area remains a great place to live, work and raise a family.