The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 10

10 THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1997 Casino raises NSW to top tax State Sydney casino, and marketing of gaming machines. Taxes per head of population in NSW rose in 1996-97 to $293, well ahead of the average for the seven other jurisdictions of $1,882, a gap of 21 per cent or $411. Victoria, which previously had the highest taxes because of the opening of the Crown Casino, slipped behind NSW for the first time in four years. The State's total tax take swelled by 10 per cent in 1996-97 to $12.3 billion, a hefty rise achieved in a period when the consumer price index (CPI) rose by just 0.3 per cent. NSW was singled out by the bureau for its increasing dependence on these new sources of gambling revenue.

They have offset a slowdown in traditional sources of tax revenue, and a slight decline in revenue from horse racing and lotteries. Taxes from gambling machines swelled by 18 per cent last financial year to $534 million, while revenue from the temporary casino rose from zero two years earlier to $84 million. "In the last few years in NSW, revenue has grown rapidly in line with the expansion of betting options and improved marketing by clubs," the bureau said. "The growth in casino tax revenue in NSW during 1996-97 reflects the first full year of operation of the temporary Sydney Harbour Casino." But the rise of gambling taxes also reflects the narrowness of the State tax base, in turn underlining the inherent problems with Australia's tax system. A spokesman for the NSW Treasurer, Mr Egan, said last night that the trends in the State's tax base highlighted the need for reform of Federal-State relations.

He said under the current regime NSW was dependent on taxes like stamp duty that were or had "social issues associated with them" like gaming taxes. Other sources of revenue had a "very limited he added. He said there had been "obviously a big increase" in gambling revenue, but this reflected the opening of the casino. In a landmark speech yester day, the president of the Business Council of Australia, Mr Stan Wallis, said the Federal Government would have the full support of the business community in pursuing sweeping tax reform. Mr Wallis, who headed the Government's financial system inquiry, also provided support for a republic and urged a resolution on native title.

CLEARY Correspondent residents paid the highest taxes in Australia last year as a result of the Government's promotion gambling. Bureau of Statistics Revenue survey for reveals how NSW Victoria as Australia's top State following the Carr opening of the That fancy footwear may end up hurting you By KENDALL HILL and agencies Consumers who buy high-tech sports shoes believing advertisers' claims about their safety features are more likely to injure themselves, Zoo's boom gives tigers room to learn multiplication a new study suggests. The research, conducted in Canada by Montreal's McGill University, found that runners claiming superior qualities and high technology design lulled users into a false sense of security and resulted in injuries. Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers said: "Expensive footwear is subject to extremely deceptive advertising. "They are advertised to improve protection over cheaper products by incorporating more advanced safety technology, yet epidemiological data indicate that users of more expensive shoes are injured more frequently." Dr Steven Robbins and investigators at McGill University had 15 barefoot male volunteers step off a 4.5 centimetre high platform onto four surfaces; one bare and the other three covered with identical shoe sole material.

The subjects were told the surfaces were different. One had i i 1.. 0 i Fm it By PAUL Economics NSW per capita financial State of The Taxation 1996-97 overtook taxing Government's Mangroves bulldozed despite ban By GREG ROBERTS The Federal and Queensland governments will take no action against the developer Mr Keith Williams for bulldozing mangroves at his controversial Port Hinchinbrook resort in defiance of requests from the project's environmental supervisor. Instead, the supervisor, Mr Martin Gledhill, will be removed, because according to Government sources, he is no longer acceptable to Mr Williams. Mr Gledhill had asked Mr Williams not to clear a 50-metre stretch of mangroves until the terms of the deed of agreement covering the project were clarified.

When Mr Williams refused, Mr Gledhill issued a stop work order, but by the time this was dispatched last Thursday, most of the mangroves had been cleared. The move against Mr Gledhill, whose role is mainly to implement the deed agreement signed by the Federal and Queensland governments, follows the removal in November last year of his predecessor, Mr Hamish Malcolm, when Mr Williams threatened legal action against him. A previous incident involving mangrove-clearing prompted the former Federal Environment Minister, Senator John Faulkner, to halt work on the project in 1994. A spokesman for Queensland's Acting Environment Minister, Mr Doug Slack, said the Government did not believe Mr Williams had done anything illegal, and that Mr Gledhill's "relocation" was not related to his differences with the developer. Mr Williams declined to return calls yesterday.

fx v. il "superior impact absorption and protection using state-ot-the-art' another had poor impact absorption and risk of injury, and the third was a new product, safety unknown. Those using the "high-tech" surface landed 1 1 per cent more heavily on average than those landing on the "unsafe" surface. The volunteers said they linked expensive with good protection and cheap ones with little or no protection. The researchers said no athletic footwear, regardless of brand or price, has ever been shown to protect well against injuries.

The Australian Podiatrists' Association said there were some good sports shoes available but consumers had to know their foot type and footwear needs. "There's a lot of gimmickry about," said the APA's NSW president, Ms Mandy McDonald. "There are some shoes with shock absorption so good that they're bloody unstable." -w rr-ru i Selatan, one of Taronga's five Sumatran tigers, which the zoo hopes to involve in a breeding program with tigers from overseas. Photo by RICK STEVENS it I li 1 By AMANDA PHELAN If you visited Taronga Zoo this year, take a bow your entrance fee will help to fund a new world-class enclosure for the endangered Sumatran tiger. Taronga and the estern Plains Zoo at Dubbo are delighted to have come up with a $1.59 million operating surplus for the year, coming in 32 per cent over their budget target.

The roaring financial success will bring immediate benefits to the Sumatran tigers, with a massive new enclosure under way at Western Plains, where it is hoped the animals will breed. There are fewer than 700 of the tigers left in the world, and 243 of these are in captivity. Taronga has five tigers, two in Sydney and three cubs born in captivity which were moved to Dubbo last year as part of the zoo's breeding program. The new enclosure will cater for 12 of the big cats, and the extra space will boost negotiations with zoos in the United States which are considering sending all their Sumatran tigers to Australia so the animals can be bred in their own region. The director of life sciences at Taronga, Mr William Meikle, said the tigers would get all the creature comforts at their new Dubbo home.

"There's massive amounts of space and they will be away from the public area, which improves their chances of breeding successfully," he said. The Minister for the Environment, Ms Allan, said a key reason for the zoo's operating surplus was the jump in visitors, with 1,635,533 people passing through the turnstiles during the year. "The bonus will enable the Zoological Parks Board to finish construction of the Sumatran tiger complex at the Western Plains Zoo," she said. For Sydney fans, Taronga's popular pair of Sumatran tigers, Shiva and Selatan, will remain in their harbour-view home. fists Ii I century not eligible I I 111 i iXuD A sj; i i 1 1 Especially at Christmas, Australia Post Shops have special gift ideas at very special prices.

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