The Sydney Morning Herald reports that an indoor smoking ban brought on last year has set pubs back $1.7 million Australian dollars a day in poker machine earnings.
According to the New South Wales Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, earnings dipped down by $616 million Australian dollars last year, which has resulted in the cutting of more than 2,000 jobs and a slowdown in charity donations. The newspaper said this downturn is expected to continue through the first five months of the 2009 fiscal year.
“As predicted, club gaming revenue fell off a cliff when the indoor smoking bans were introduced,” David Costello, chief executive of Clubs NSW, told the paper.