WHY WFH NEEDS TO END

From the President

DAVID BASHEER

The two years of business interruption caused by Covid created two classes of people. There were the 76% of people whose income was either not affected or their income actually increased.

The 76% of South Australians whose livelihood was unaffected can not be expected to understand what it was like for the rest of us, living press conference to press conference, not knowing if you were going to earn an income next week.

So why are we still dwelling on the pandemic past?

Because just as the pandemic created two classes of employees, so has the work from home craze. There are those who jobs allow it, and those who don’t. And unsurprisingly, there is a parallel between those who were and were not negatively impacted financially by Covid.

The recent staggering concession by the Federal Government to give Commonwealth public servants total freedom to work from home has exacerbated the culture that somehow it is unfair for an employer to expect their employee to show up in the office to work. And there are an awful lot of them! They once filled city office towers and supported the wider external economy. Their support created and maintained a significant number of jobs.

Does it matter that the taxpayer is now forking out money to pay the rents on these unused office blocks? Spending someone else’s money is a comfortable proposition.

But there is an upside. The work from homers now have exceptionally fit labradors and perfectly manicured front and back lawns.

Compare that to hospitality workers who love their job and accept that part of the deal is that they have to get dressed, commute to their workplace and be available to serve the work from homers when they do choose to venture outside their home office.

It is causing friction within our pubs. Most of our roles can not be performed remotely, but some back office roles can. Does an employer buckle like the Federal Government and allow the payroll clerk to work from home, thus causing disunity with the service staff?

The AHA|SA joins the Property Council in urging our State Government not to fall in line with their Federal colleagues and introduce similar measures here.

Writing in The Advertiser last month, Property Council CEO Bruce Djite noted that could mean 100,000

State employees never returning to their offices again.

The impact on our relatively small State economy would be terminal. Djite noted: “Such a policy would shatter small businesses and cause an unnecessary increase in unemployment, disincentivise investment and weaken payroll tax revenue.” The AHA|SA fully endorses those comments.

There are elements of the work from home culture that are attractive. But it’s another concession to productivity at a time when the economy is struggling to keep up. Society is becoming so overly focused on the American-style ‘rights of the individual’ that the needs of the greater good – via the economy - is being lost.

SA Still Leads Gaming Care

In mid-July, with no consultation with industry, Victoria’s Andrews’s Government issued a media release on a Sunday morning that announced reforms to the operation of gaming machines in that state.

The reforms include:

• Load up limits – capped at $100, down from the current $1,000

• Mandatory closure periods (except for the Casino) of six hours, up from the current four hours

• All new EGMs to spin at a rate of three seconds per game.

There were also announcements around mandatory pre-commitment and carded play that will be introduced subject to “thorough consultation with industry through an implementation working group”. There was a ‘promise’ that it will take into account trials in other jurisdictions and the Crown Melbourne experience, which will have mandated pre-commitment and carded play on all EGMs by the end of 2023.

It is another example of a State Government chasing reform without proper consultation.

Whilst these reforms generated considerable publicity, the AHA|SA has been quick to point out to our local Members of Parliament that Victoria’s proposed actions still fall short of matching South Australian harm minimisation standards.

We have had $100 load up limits since 2020, a mandatory six-hour closure for two decades, and the three second spin rate is now commonplace.

South Australia is still ahead of the game as the only jurisdiction with facial recognition technology and Automated Risk Monitoring. That is in addition to our nation leading training through Gaming Care.

It is curious that gaming found itself back on the national agenda after several of our casinos fell foul of authorities with money laundering issues. So why is it that the Victorian announcement appears to target ‘Mum and Dad’ operators?

It’s yet another sugar hit for the unregulated online space. Comparisons with Great Britain in terms of gaming are rarely useful, as their land-based environment is very different to ours, but the UK Government have announced a White Paper into assisting pubbased gaming to succeed as a tool to combat the rapid and dangerous growth in on-line activities.

An interesting approach!

Tourism Australia Appointment

It was fantastic to learn that our outgoing CEO, Ian Horne, has been appointed to the board of the nation’s most prestigious tourism body, Tourism Australia (TA). This is great recognition of our newly merged accommodation organisation Accommodation Australia and the AHA, both locally and nationally. It is also a wonderful recognition for Ian.

Whilst his advocacy in liquor and gambling was what often attracted the media headlines, he has a strong background in tourism and accommodation, and regularly held important discussions with

Government on behalf of our members with accommodation.

Ian’s past appointments include:

• South Australian Tourism Commission: Board Member 2006 to present

• Adelaide Venue Management Corporation: Board Member 2023 to current

• Business Events Adelaide: Board Member & Deputy Chairperson 2015 to present

• SA Minister of Tourism’s Advisory Board: Member 1990 to1993

• SA Tourism Industry Council (SATIC), forerunner to TiCSA: Chairperson 1990 to 1992, Vice Chair 1988 to 1990, Board member1987 to 1998

• Adelaide Convention & Tourism Authority, now Business Events SA: Board member 1988 to 1993, Treasurer 1989 to 1990, Vice Chairperson 1990 to 1992.

Ian replaces AHA (WA) CEO, Bradley Woods, who has retired from the TA Board after two terms, and ensures the AHA’s voice and now that of Accommodation Australia, continues to be heard at the highest levels of Government.

But there is an upside. The work from homers now have exceptionally fit labradors and perfectly manicured front and back lawns.