Carlton chief Greg Swann slams pokies tax idea. Picture: Smith Ellen Source: Herald Sun
CARLTON chief executive Greg Swann has slammed the idea of "pokies tax"' proposed by the Western Bulldogs.
The plan, as outlined in the Herald Sun yesterday, would see large gains from pokie machines split between all AFL clubs.
Carlton owns 360 gaming machines which made more than $4.5 million in revenue across five venues last year and as such would be one of the hardest hit under such a scheme.
But Swann said the tax "won't be happening'' and said the Dogs were missing the point in the ongoing equalisation debate.
"The issue is the stadium deals, that's the difference,'' Swann said. "The big interstate clubs don't have pokies and their reaping a fortune out of their stadium deals.
"And unless that's addressed then all this other stuff is just a redirection of money from Victorian clubs to other Victorian clubs when it should be an issue that's addressed the competition.''
Conversely, Swann backed plans raised in the Herald Sun this week that would see ticket prices raised for blockbuster games and potentially even lowered for lower-drawing matches.
In submission to the AFL the Western Bulldogs said it believes in "a system in which club poker machine profits over a certain proportion of gross club revenue were contributed to a common pool for equitable distribution''.
"(It) would be a preferable model for a `luxury tax' and might have the additional benefit of reducing the incentive of clubs to increase their own dependence.''
But Swann disagreed, saying it would be unfair to strip such revenue away from clubs who have gone out and sourced such an income.
"We've worked hard for our gaming interests,'' he said.
"We've invested a lot of money and we're carrying a lot of debt, so we don't think that's a viable option.
"There's all sorts of legalities from the casino and gaming point of view, the legislators, so it's not feasible.
"The issue of equalisation is more about the funding that's made within the game, this from our point of view is a separate thing.''
Swann said his club would be happy to entertain a hike on ticket prices for marquee games throughout the season.
"They're things that can be looked at because that's money from the game,'' he said.
"It's like anything else in life, you go to the theatre, you sit in the best seats, you pay more money than you do if you sit up the back.``So personally we don't have an issue with that.''
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