Shadow Minister for Gaming and Racing Mark Parton will put forward a motion in the legislative Assembly today calling on the ACT Labor-Greens government to return a reasonable portion of the Point of Consumption tax (POCT) revenue back to the racing codes.

Mr Parton said the ACT is only jurisdiction in Australia where the government does not return a portion of the POCT back into the racing industry.

“The Queensland Labor government along with Tasmania returns 80 per cent of POCT back into racing, with all other states and Territories returning varying amounts except the ACT,” Mr Parton said.

“Recently the POCT rate in the ACT was retrospectively increased from 15 to 20 per cent on July 1 that will generate in excess of $20 million a year.

“With the increase in the POCT, the Labor-Greens government becomes the highest taxing jurisdiction in Australia, while at the same time returning the least of those profits back to the codes.”

The ACT Government collected $69 million in total gambling taxes in 2020-21 and is forecast to collect more than $77 million in 2024-25.

The Canberra Racing Club also contributes $55 million per year to the ACT economy and supports more than 400 full time jobs in the ACT.

Mr Parton said recent comments from those within the Labor-Greens coalition that racing should not receive $40 million from the government over the next five years as part of the MOU agreement failed to outline how much the government is collecting in tax from racing and were disingenuous.

“The biggest bookmaker in town is the Labor-Greens Government. They are the ones who are profiting from gambling and racing in this city more than anyone but at the same time are failing to support the industry,” Mr Parton said.

“By returning a portion of this tax back to our racing clubs, we can give them the certainty of a long-term revenue stream, but it is clear the Greens want to ban horse racing and will do everything they can to achieve this,” Mr Parton concluded.