The government of New South Wales is obligated to use unclaimed pokies winnings to fund beneficial community projects. Some lawmakers had a broad interpretation of the mandate, and funneled $850,000 from the Community Development Fund to back a failed Jackie Chan film.
The 2017 feature, Bleeding Steel, was a big-time flop, despite featuring the martial arts star battling bad guys atop the iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House.
The Sydney Morning Herald notes that government officials have “wide discretion” to decide what constitutes “community benefit,” and under the 2001 Gaming Machines Act can allot monies “for such community benefits as the secretary considers appropriate.” From 2014 through 2016, $3.34 million was spent on local community projects such as new school facilities and separate grants to upgrade war memorials.
But the $850,000 grant for the Chan movie stands out as the largest grant to a single project, accounting for a quarter of the total funding pool, the Herald reported.
A spokesman for Liquor and Gaming NSW defended the choice, saying the government “undertook a thorough cost benefit analysis” and decided the film would deliver “significant short and long-term economic and tourism benefits, particularly from Asia.
“The project directly injected over $20 million into the NSW economy and employed over 1,100 staff, crew, cast and extras in NSW between May and September 2016,” the spokesman said.
