Media release: 4 October, 2003
Perth’s
Burswood Casino continues to try to blame revenue loss on smoke bans – though
the latest drop was almost entirely restricted to a still-smoky gaming room.
The
SmokeFree ’03 coalition has criticised the Burswood Ltd Annual Report 2003*
for wrongly implying that no-smoking policies did significant harm to the
casino’s revenues.
Says
SmokeFree ’03 spokesperson and ACOSH Executive Director Stephen Hall: “A
close look at the figures shows how unsustainable this assertion is. In fact,
the profitability loss suffered by the company’s gaming operations was
entirely due to its International Room – where smoking is still permitted.
“The
fall in the International Room revenue was created by an abnormally low win
percentage of 0.89% - when they would normally have expected around 1.35%.”
The
decreased overall profitability of the company’s gaming operations during the
year amounted to just under $40m ($292.4m down to $252.8m) – more than
accounted for in the $43m ($98.3m down to $55.3m) fall in the revenue of the
International Room. Food and
beverage income and domestic gaming revenue were all up for the year.
“Smokefree
policies have had no discernible negative impact on the company’s gaming
operations or on any other part of the resort’s revenue,” says Stephen Hall.
“It’s quite misleading of the Burswood directors to try to associate
the loss with smoke bans on the main gaming floor.
“The
tobacco industry has carried out a long-time scare campaign about the supposed
impact of smoke bans - not just in Australia but all over the world.**
They have sought without credible evidence to terrify proprietors with
the fear of lost business, and employees with the fear of lost jobs.
“Holding
up smoke bans as a negative factor, without justification, fuels this scare
campaign and undermines the reasonable claim by casino workers for a safe,
smokefree workplace – a right which the company should be supporting in line
with the occupational health and safety principles the company claims to
uphold.” ***
* Annual report at http://www.burswood.com.au/investor/annualreport/2003/content/burswood_concise_ar03.pdf
(see p.
2, p. 5)
** see http://www.ashaust.org.au/SF’03/economics.htm
*** see report, p. 17, p.23
Comment:
Stephen Hall, ACOSH
ph. 0408-426-263
Media info:
Stafford Sanders
ph. (02) 9334-1823
SmokeFree '03 coalition:
Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union; Musicians' Union of
Australia;
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance; Australian Council of Trade
Unions;
Action on Smoking and Health Australia; The Cancer Council Australia;
National Heart Foundation of Australia; Australian Council on Smoking and Health;
Non-Smokers' Movement of Australia