The Liquor and Gaming Commissioner has been scathing of the Liberals’ pokies policy in the Legislative Council’s Inquiry into Poker Machine Harm Minimisation, following their backflip on a nation-leading pokies pre-commitment card. The Commissioner’s testimony has laid bare the Liberals’ broken harm minimisation promises, at the behest of the pokies lobby.
The Commissioner described the Liberals’ key harm prevention policies as having minimal positive impact, and in some cases making things worse. The expansion of ATMs into gambling venues will increase access to cash and the potential for problem gambling, according to the Commissioner.
The Liberals’ Ticket In Ticket Out system came as a complete surprise to the Commission, who were not consulted on the policy change, despite assurances from the Liberals that they would be. The proposal was well developed, despite the lack of input from the Commission.
If the Liberals weren’t consulting their own experts on this, who were they talking to? Clearly, the pokies lobby wrote the Liberals’ new policy. No wonder they’re so happy about it, compared to the pokies pre-commitment card.
The Commission was focussed on working on a pokies pre-commitment card, and had all the preliminary work done. The Commissioner said it simply needing one signature to go ahead, before it was pulled. She said other states were looking to us to be a national leader.
The Commissioner described the Liberals’ proposed closure hours as minimally effective. The Commission were already in the propose of consulting on changing opening hours, when the Treasuer intervened with the new proposal.
According to the Commissioner, only one of 87 venues were unhappy with their proposed closing hours changes. But days after the pokies lobby contacted the Treasurer, he changed the policy. It paints a terrible picture of a government captured by the interests of their donors in the gambling industry, and ignoring the needs of the most vulnerable in our community.
The Commissioner said the Liberals’ change of policy had led the body to consider whether it could properly exercise its independent function, and deliver on its statutory duty to implement harm minimisation measures. It’s beyond disappointing to hear just how hamstrung the Commission has been in its work to reduce the human cost of EGMs.
Close to $20 million is lost to poker machines in Tasmania every month, with a record $208 million in losses in 2025-26. The impact of gambling addiction on the finances and health of individuals and families is devastating. The Liberals should hang their heads in shame at their capitulation to the gambling industry, and abandonment of vulnerable Tasmanians.
