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22 May 2013 Liquor and Gaming (Red Tape Reduction) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 1701 To assist organisations, our government will ensure that guidelines to clarify best practices in relation to the service of alcohol at these identified low-risk community events are prepared and made readily available to the public via the office of liquor and gaming. This is yet another common-sense amendment introduced by this government. It is aimed at supporting our community organisations. The financial benefits for them will bring a new era in community involvement and allow those groups to reach their full potential without the needless red tape that is strangling the not-for-profit sector. From community organisations to local businesses, this amendment bill is set to improve the administrative protocols for all Queenslanders by reducing red tape. My electorate is home to various establishments that are licensed to operate gaming machines. The Liquor and Gaming (Red Tape Reduction) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 also sets out to provide the introduction of ticket-in ticket-out systems in casinos, pubs and clubs. The ticket-in ticket-out, TITO, technology allows for a cashless method to collect and insert credit into gaming machines using, as you guessed, tickets. The technology will provide substantial efficiencies for the operators of machines by removing the need for gambling machines to dispense coins or for gaming venue staff to issue vouchers for payment of gaming machine credits. For large operators such as Treasury Casino or Jupiters Casino, the implementation of such technology will without a doubt improve efficiency. For clubs and pubs like the Park Ridge Tavern, Pub Lane Tavern, Logan Village Hotel and Browns Plains Hotel, just to name a few in my electorate, such implementation of the TITO technology goes beyond improved efficiency. It will drive down operational costs and improve security for patrons and staff alike. I must stress that this technology by no means accentuates gambling for problem gamblers. It merely forms a more secure and efficient means for proprietors to conduct business. In addition to benefiting business and community organisations, this amendment bill also sets out to improve prospective skills and employment opportunities for the next generation of Queenslanders by further enhancing the vocational education options available for students seeking to gain skills or further their skills in areas such as the responsible service of alcohol and responsible service of gambling. This bill makes amendments to remove trainer approval provisions under the liquor and gaming legislation which now fall under the jurisdiction of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator. Currently in Queensland, courses in the responsible service of alcohol, RSA, and the responsible service of gambling, RSG, and the trainers are approved under the Liquor Act and Gaming Machine Act. In 2012 our government passed legislation to refer the power to regulate registered training organisations to the Commonwealth. The current amendments extend the application of the national framework to RSA and RSG by removing the need for trainers and training courses to be approved under state law. Recognising the national competency for RSA and RSG will allow licensees to draw on a wider pool of workers to support our growing entertainment and tourism industries. Earlier this year I hosted a school principals roundtable with the honourable Minister for Education, Training and Employment. This outstanding event was catered for by students at the host school, Browns Plains High School. These students, who are hoping to embark on a career in the hospitality and tourism industry, will be presented with greater opportunities in our great state as a result of this amendment as well as other initiatives of this government. The bill also abolishes the Community Investment Fund in order to simplify internal controls, strengthen the line of accountability in relation to government finances and streamline government process in accordance with red-tape reduction principles. Original money collected under such a program was paid into various other funds including the Gambling Community Benefit Fund and the Casino Community Benefit Fund. Money from these funds was then paid out as grants to community charitable groups. As members of parliament we are privileged to bring positive change to our communities. Since being elected I have endorsed many applications for funding from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund submitted by organisations from within my community. The amendments to the Community Investment Fund will not alter the management of the Gambling Community Benefit Fund. Being recognised as an entirely beneficial program for the community, the fund will be funded more efficiently and transparently as a result of the consolidation of the CIF. I acknowledge the efforts of the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee and I proudly commend the bill to the House. Hon. DF CRISAFULLI (Mundingburra—LNP) (Minister for Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience) (6.06 pm): I rise to speak in support of the Liquor and Gaming (Red Tape Reduction) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013. What a shining example of what we as a
1702 Liquor and Gaming (Red Tape Reduction) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 22 May 2013 state and as a government want to achieve. It is a victory for common sense over bureaucratic hurdle jumping, hoop jumping and so on. These are the sorts of things governments can do to make life better for families. Governments can often get side-tracked into thinking that the only way to make positive change is by doing things financially. That is not the case. Often, doing less can be a win for people—less regulation, tying them up less, giving them an opportunity to exercise common sense. If ever you needed proof of why you need less regulation it is the fact that during 2012 not one of the nearly 7,000 community liquor permit applications was refused. Let us be clear about who is regulated under the 1992 Liquor Act. It is the people who are trying to organise the bar at the local school fete and those organising a trivia night, where you might want to buy a glass of wine or have a shandy. I can also tell you whom I think it is going to help: anyone who ever wants to stage a community event. I have faith in the people who are organising school events in the electorate of Mundingburra—people such as Grammar Juniors P&C President John Ioannou, the Cathedral School’s Ange D’Arcy, Cranbrook State School’s Bridget Bambrick, Heatley Secondary College’s Mick Cutler and all the other community minded, hardworking people who do their bit for schools such as Mundingburra State School, Aitkenvale State School, Annandale State School, Annandale Christian College, Currajong State School, Heatley State School, Holy Spirit Catholic School—they are having their fete this Friday night; if you think the steaks are good in Logan, you should see what we do on the barbecue at the Holy Spirit fete—Ignatius Park College, Townsville Community Learning Centre, Riverside Adventist Christian School, Vincent State School, William Ross State High and Southern Cross Catholic College. I want those people and the many more good citizens throughout Queensland to spend less time filling in forms. That is what this government is about. The P&Cs of these schools previously had to apply for a $57 community liquor permit if they wanted to offer supporters and parents a drink at a community fundraiser. It is not just about the money; it is about the message it sends, that we want to regulate everything you do, everything you say or any fun you have. This bill changes that in that it does not just cut the red tape; it saves them money, and that is another imperative of our government. It is not just schools but the Lions Club of Townsville Central or Centrals ASA Junior Rugby League—which are both in my electorate, the latter of which suffered severely through the tornado which tore through the area prior to the election—that are hosting their next fundraiser or any other community group that forms the foundation of my electorate. They will not need to go through the extra paperwork and the cost of applying for a community liquor permit. It is a win not just for the people of Mundingburra but for people around the state who are yearning for a sensible, smart and common-sense solution to the mess, to the regulations, to the bureaucratic nightmare that they have endured for far too long. I want to speak briefly on the amendment to country shows that my good friend the Attorney has put forward. If ever one needs an example of listening and taking a common-sense approach, here it is. I had the great pleasure of going to the Blackbutt Show the other day with the member for Nanango, and there I saw everything that was right about our great country communities. I do not believe that a permit for alcohol would stop that wonderful community from enjoying itself. I do not believe for one moment that that is not the sort of place where people could come together and regulate themselves. Of course they can. That is what country communities do. This gives them the ability to just get on with life, and that is what this place needs to be more about—that is, more of allowing the individual the right to get on with life and less about making laws to try to penalise everyone to pick up the minority. Finally we are cutting the cords that bind all Queenslanders. Are we doing it fast enough? The answer is that we are moving as fast as we can, but it is changes in bills like this that reflect a common-sense approach to government, and I support it wholeheartedly. Mr HOLSWICH (Pine Rivers—LNP) (6.11 pm): Today I rise to offer a short contribution in support of the Liquor and Gaming (Red Tape Reduction) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013. As the title of the bill suggests, the overarching purpose of this legislation is to reduce red tape. It has certainly been one of the hallmarks of the Newman government in its first 14 months that we have unapologetically sought out ways to reduce red tape right across government—whether it is unnecessary red tape that is choking businesses or households or individuals or community groups— and again we see that as a key purpose of the bill before us today. This bill in focusing on the liquor and gaming industry seeks to streamline processes across the industry. I note that the Attorney-General intends to implement red-tape reduction across this industry in multiple phases and that this is the first significant phase in that process. Some of the areas of red-tape reduction addressed by this bill are exempting low-risk community organisations from requiring a permit to conduct not-for-profit events; reducing the regulatory burden for low-risk
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