Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown says all roads in the debate over poker machines are now leading top the Greens’ one dollar bet limit option.
“Nick Xenophon’s call for this option to be backed in today’s press, and Andrew Wilkie’s willingness to revert back to one dollar bet limits, and the fact that it is a much cheaper option for clubs to implement, points to this being the point of agreement for everybody who wants to take real action on the damage to society of compulsive gambling.
Greens Senator Richard Di Natale relaunched this option last year with a great deal of support from experts in the field.
Senator Brown says that the one dollar bet is the best way forward for the Gillard Government and should be backed by the Abbott Opposition.
Yesterday: Wilkie/Gillard meet to discuss poker machine reform
• FEDERAL POKIES REFORM STALLING, TASMANIA SHOULD GO IT ALONE
Kim Booth MP
Greens Gaming spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens today said they would step up their push for state-based $1 betting limits, given the sluggish progress of pokies reform at the federal level.
Greens Gaming spokesperson Kim Booth MP, who is also Chair of a Parliamentary Committee looking at $1 betting limits on pokies, said that the failure by the Prime Minister to progress mandatory pre-commitment advocated for by Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie was one more reason why Tasmania should go it alone on pokie reform.
“Every month Tasmanians lose around $17 million to the voracious pokie machines,” Mr Booth said.
“We know that the pokies are the most harmful form of gambling. About 80% of problem gamblers are addicted to pokies and those problem gamblers account for 42% of pokie losses in Tasmania.”
“We also know that problem gamblers are often driven to crime to fuel their addiction and that problem gambling ruins lives and families.”
“A discussion paper released by my Federal Green colleague, Senator Richard Di Natale, demonstrates that limiting bets and jackpots is a significantly cheaper reform for the industry as well as being the most effective reform to help people with problem gambling lose less.”
“The $1 maximum bet limit has been the Tasmanian Greens policy since 2004 and is also supported by the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce.”
“We know that placing bet limits works and the technology is already there. When Victoria moved to bet limits there was little outcry from industry in terms of costs of compliance.”
“The Tasmanian Greens are determined to end poker machine addiction, and there is no doubt that a betting limit would go a long way to ending the misery that problem gambling brings to addicts and their families,” Mr Booth said.
