Gambling Revenue

Dr JOHN KAYE: My question without notice is directed to the Treasurer. Is it true that gambling accounts for 9.5 per cent of the State's revenue collection? What steps has the Treasurer taken to determine the degree to which this revenue is regressive, in that it is collected from those who can least afford it? What steps has the Treasurer taken to reduce the dependency of this State on gambling revenue?

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: We have had this question before. The honourable member has had explained to him on a number of occasions that the Government has programs to deal with people who have gambling problems. As a result of the casino negotiations, of course, a community fund will be set up basically to provide programs for people who cannot gamble in a responsible manner. But let me make it absolutely clear that only a small minority of people choose to engage in gambling. We are not wowsers like the Greens about such recreational activity. If people choose to gamble in a responsible way, the Greens do not have any basis for making valued judgments about people's recreational pursuits. I do not make judgments about the recreational habits of the Greens. I am sure many people would find the habits of the Greens pretty strange as well.

Mr Ian Cohen: What are they? Name them?

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: I could name a couple. Getting on a surfboard and trying to stop the USS Enterprise I would suggest is an absurd recreational habit, but people are entitled to behave in such a way so long as they do so within the law. The Greens do all sorts of weird things. I have noticed that although the Greens purport to be environmentally responsible, some drive cars that have greater pollution outputs than those of most average family cars. So long as people act within the law and behave responsibly, that is alright. The Government and its members are not wowsers, whereas the Greens obviously are. They do not want people to enjoy life. That is why they try to ban anything that has any semblance of enjoyment, and we will remain opposed to the Greens if they continue to operate on that basis. We believe in having proper laws and programs to give support to people with problems. That is a sensible position. Is it any wonder that Kerry Nettle got thrown out of office—

The Hon. Marie Ficarra: Oh what a pity.

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: What a pity, did you say?

The Hon. Duncan Gay: With tongue in cheek.

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: I thought it was a great pity. I was on a polling booth, as was announced yesterday—

The Hon. Michael Gallacher: Not for very long though. You got kicked off.

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: I did not get kicked off. I will tell members what happened.

[Interruption]

The Hon. Duncan Gay: And our vote doubled.

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: No, it did not. We won the booth of Metford. There was a Green on the booth who got very upset when I asked her where—

Dr John Kaye: Point of order: My point of order is relevance. The question was about whether gambling was regressive or not. My question was not about who won election to the Senate.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Minister has the call.

The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: I was on a booth and I struck up a reasonable relationship with people from Bob Baldwin's office; we got on very well. We were offering each other water and other benefits but I will not tell members what they were. Probably the greatest benefit was my conversation with them. The reality was that one of the Greens became very upset with me. Metford is a coalmining town and the booth actually backed on to the railway line—you could hear the coal trains going forward on the line. This particular Green was giving handouts and talking about saving the planet. I just pointed out to her that their posters about closing the coal industry were nowhere to be seen. I asked should they not be honest and display their posters in that coalmining town about closing the coal mines. She got very offended and, in fact, threatened me. I was absolutely shocked. Luckily I was with Mark Sargent, the former front row forward for the Newcastle Knights, and I was able to be defended from this vicious Green— [Time expired.]