Dear Fiona,

Incorrect and unfair interpretation of the Pubs Code position on gaming machine

We are writing in response to your article dated 3rd March 2022 in the Morning Advertiser about gaming machines and the announcement you have made in there.

The Gaming Machine issue has been contested since the Code was implemented in 2016 and the regulated pubcos (Pub Owning Businesses) have taken a number of approaches including charging tenants more rent if they opted not to include a gaming machine tie in their new agreement, which we believe clearly is at odds with the original intentions.

We are astonished and appalled at your interpretation of this aspect of the Pubs Code, which is clearly not what the Government intended, nor what is laid down in the Code itself. Your interpretation is unfounded and unacceptable and we are writing to urge you to change it and to instead interpret the Code in the way that was clearly intended by Government (and Parliament)…