Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Sunshine Coast Council has expressed an interest in establishing a casino in its Maroochydore CBD development. Media reports suggest that meetings with overseas gambling corporations have already taken place. Establishing a casino on the Sunshine Coast would irrevocably alter our community for the worse. A casino would add to the cost of living pressures on our hardworking families, hollow out the local economy, increase crime and antisocial behaviour, and drive up drug and alcohol abuse. We have built a unique and relaxed family-friendly environment on the coast, which is envied all over the world, and I am determined to fight at every stage to preserve it. I have therefore started a petition calling on the council to abandon their plans to establish a casino in SunCentral.

I held 14 listening posts around my electorate at the end of January. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came to me and told me how strongly they oppose this development. To date, thousands of people in Fisher and beyond have already signed my petition. This is the perfect time to stop a casino in its tracks before the process has gone too far. I therefore ask the people of the Sunshine Coast and anyone else in this country to join thousands of others and visit the 'My Work for Fisher' page of my website to sign my petition today; or they can call my office for further details.