Pokie law cost owners their retirement

GINO Scutti was once a successful Wagga builder whose work included many big city council projects, but now he and his wife, Sharon, are forced to live in a friend's granny flat because of a state law that sent them broke.Looking to invest for retirement, the Scuttis bought the Carrathool Hotel in 1996 and allowed it to be run by a lessee. The purchase included four poker machines.The Scutti's dreams of retirement started to disappear in 2001 when the state government passed a law that effectively allowed hotel lessees to sell poker machine licences.The Scuttis challenged the law in court in 2005 but lost and in 2006 the lessee sold the Carrathool Hotel's four licences for about $400,000 and left.The couple moved from Wagga to Carrathool to try to salvage their investment, but were fighting a losing battle."It was the income from the poker machines that made the hotel profitable; take that out and it's just hopeless," Mrs Scutti said yesterdayIn July last year their problems were compounded when Mrs Scutti was diagnosed with cancer, and then became much worse in September when the pub burned down. Police are still investigating the suspicious blaze.The Scuttis yesterday estimated they have lost $2 million and blame the state government.Former Temora hotel owner, Greg Evans, who also estimates he lost about $2 million, said yesterday the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of some freehold owners recently but there was still no compensation in sight for those who have lost their court fights in the past. "The injustice occurred due to a flaw in the legislation which allowed our capital assets to be sold off without our consent," Mr Evans said.The Greens have taken up the fight for the couple demanding they be compensated, but there are no moves from either the Labor Party or the Coalition in that direction. "Labor and the Coal-ition are two peas in a pod when it comes to exclusively listening to the big end of town like the Australian Ho-tels Association," said Wagga Greens candidate, Ros Prangnell.