The New
South Wales Premier has been accused of
“misrepresenting” advice from an independent panel on poker
machine reform by flagging he may “walk away from cashless
gambling altogether”.
The criticism from charity and advocate groups came
as one Labor
backbencher warned his western Sydney electorate had “felt
the brunt of gambling-related harm for too long”,
while expressing hope “there will be further reforms to
come”.
Banning cash and the anonymous use of the state’s almost
90,000 poker machines was a key recommendation of a 2022 NSW
crime commission report, which warned
billions of dollars in dirty money was being laundered
through pokies.
The trial, launched in early 2024, was also described by the
state government as one
way to help monitor gambling harm across the state.
Almost $24m was lost
to poker machines each day during the first quarter of this
year.
Despite the trial drawing just 14 “genuine and active”
participants, a
report by government-appointed experts called for cashless
gaming to become mandatory in 2028.
After nearly six months, the state government is yet to
formally respond to the report’s key findings. On Friday, hours
after a damning audit of poker machine regulation, Chris
Minns criticised his government’s own trial.
“Despite everybody’s
best effort to have cashless gaming rolled out across NSW
gaming, it’s largely proved to be ineffective,” Minns said.
“It hasn’t worked, it’s not driven down the incidents of
problem gambling, the take-up rate has been lower than we
thought, the cost of
compliance is enormous, astronomical.
“I can’t really
justify, when we want to be putting money into new public
schools and brand new public transport, putting hundreds of
millions of dollars into a compliance network for pubs and
clubs across the state.”
Minns told reporters his government
was looking to take
action “but in a responsible way”.
The comments angered the charity Wesley Mission, which was a
member of the independent panel advising government.
“The premier’s comments last week indicate his government
has every intention
of binning the panel’s reform roadmap report and walking
away from cashless gambling altogether,”
said Wesley
Mission’s general manager, Jim Wackett.
Wackett said Minns had “totally misrepresented the outcomes
of the trial”. The panel’s executive committee described the
trial as “a great success” and stressed it “should not be
overlooked or understated”.
“[Minns] claimed cashless gambling had been tried and failed
and it didn’t change anyone’s behaviour,” Wackett said.
“The trial was never
about changing people’s behaviour, it was about seeing if
cashless technology worked – and it did.”
The NSW Council of Social Service’s chief executive, Cara
Varian, said the Premier’s comments were “concerning” and
urged the government to “stay focused” on implementing the
panel’s recommendations. The Council of Social Service was
also a member of the panel.
“We know that cashless gambling is an effective tool to
minimise gambling harm,” Varian said. “Pokies tear people,
families and communities apart – and disproportionately
impact people on low incomes, perpetuating cycles of
disadvantage.”
Minns’ office declined to comment on the criticism. A
spokesperson for the gaming minister, David Harris, said the
independent panel’s report “flagged the significant
complexities involved with reform in this area”.
“The government is committed to building on these reforms
with evidence-based measures that we know will make a
difference,” the spokesperson said.
Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, who represents the party on
gambling policy,
said the premier’s comments were “a cop out”.
“The government was
warned that a cashless gaming trial only applied to a
limited number of poker machines would never work because
most people would choose not to participate, which is what
happened,” Faehrmann said.
Labor MP David Saliba, who represents the seat of Fairfield,
said he was pleased the state government’s had accepted all
recommendations from an
audit office report that found targets for harm minimisation
had not been set.
“Fairfield has felt the brunt of gambling-related harm for
too long,” Saliba said. “The minister for gaming has always
made himself available, and I have made my views clear about
the impact of gaming-harm on Fairfield.
“I have been pleased the government has implemented so many
harm minimisation reforms since taking office and is taking
this issue seriously. I am hopeful there will be further
reforms to come.”
THE INITIAL EFFECTIVE REFORM IS TO SHUT DOWN ALL POKER
MACHINES IN NSW FROM MIDNIGHT TO 10AM.
Tabcorp ‘clearly emboldened’ by government
inaction on gambling ads, David Pocock says
Read more