On Bastille Day this year, as Sydney’s second COVID-19 wave began accelerating, a bottle shop and hotel company that had been spun off from Woolworths agreed to buy a roomy pub in the city’s north for $40 million.by the Endeavour Group, which is still 15 per cent owned by its former parent, was noticed by the NSW government, which was trying to reduce money laundering and the exploitation of gambling addicts in the state’s pubs.
“Why would a pub selling food and beer sell for $40 million?” a government source said. “It’s not because of the real estate and the great fish and chips they’re selling. They’re mini-casinos.
At a meeting that month, which was also attended by the Australian Hotels Association’s NSW division, Landis told Dominello “it could get ugly” if he pursued a plan to force clubs to do more to lock out problem gamblers, according to a person present. Landis said the industry supported the measures, but a pandemic was the wrong time to implement them, according to the source. Dominello told him the industry had been given six months to produce an alternative plan, and he intended to publicly propose legal changes straight away.Other people present accused Dominello of being combative. “This is happening whether you like it or not,” they quoted the minister as saying. “Come after me. I can take it.
ClubsNSW et al wield too much power.
Oh god forbid we can't wash our cash.