Hume council will call for a review on the redistribution mechanism of the tax break scheme for club-based poker machine operators.
Mayor Joseph Haweil raised a notice of motion at the council meeting on August 14, for council to write to the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) on October 13, about the scheme.
The motion requests the MAV calls on the state government to review the redistribution mechanism of the Community Benefits Statements to ensure gambling losses are directly invested back into the community.
Speaking at the council meeting, Cr Haweil said the vast majority of claims are not being reinvested into the community.
“Council officer analysis found the vast majority of those claims are being claimed for operational costs,” he said.
“What we are calling for is the state government to close this colossal rort and loophole that … is a very well known loophole across the local government and taxation sector.”
Cr Trevor Dance agreed the scheme is a rort and said it needs to be stopped.
“Let’s hope … the message gets out there that this needs to be changed and it needs to be changed quickly,” he said.
“I hope the government keeps listening to these messages that have been sent from Hume council.”
Zoe Moffatt
