In a truly fox-in-the-henhouse moment, today we have discovered the Liberals’ plan to manage gambling addiction is to allow the gambling industry to employ so-called ‘Gaming Care Officers’ to “promote sensible gambling”.
A letter tabled today, from Treasurer Abetz to the Chair of the Liquor and Gaming Commission, has revealed the greatest champion for pokie machines, Hospitality Tasmania, will be responsible to ‘care’ for those they have systematically exploited for decades.
This marks another big win for the gambling lobby off the back of the Rockliff government’s scrapping of the mandatory pre-commitment card. Once again, the losers will be Tasmanians struggling with their gambling addiction, along with their families and people who care about them.
Gambling is a significant cause of family violence, homelessness, crime and poverty and child neglect. Boosting the profits of the pokie barons while badly impacting the state in every other sector is reckless.
With just three Gaming Care Officers to be employed state-wide this initiative is akin to fighting a bushfire with a water pistol.
As social services feel the squeeze of stadium austerity those impacted by the scourge of problem gambling will increasingly lose access to the help they need.
The notion that the industry should fund their ‘care’ is offensive and cynical.
Genuine, tested EGM harm minimisation has been abandoned by the Rockliff Government.
