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NSW deputy premier looks to change monthly pokie fee


New South Wales Deputy Premier Troy Grant is looking  to change the monthly fee paid by most pubs and clubs operating poker machines to the private operators of the Centralised Monitoring System.

The fee would change from a three percent increase each year to the indexation of the Consumer Price Index, which could result in significant savings for pubs and clubs.

Under NSW law poker machine owners - with some exemptions - must pay the fee to the CMS operator, which monitors poker machines and ensures the correct tax is paid.

Based on the Reserve Bank of Australia's 2.5 per cent target rate, such a change would likely mean a saving of around $40 million for pubs and clubs over the next licence period.

A spokesperson for Grant told Fairfax Media: "There is no windfall to industry. This is about continuing a strong monitoring and probity regime of the use of poker machines in NSW.”

"CPI changes over time so you cannot pick an arbitrary number on which to predict fees over the life of the licence."

 

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