In a damaging new low, the Liberals have now stopped even pretending they’re still looking to implement long-promised harm minimising pre-commitment cards for poker machines.
Jeremy Rockliff promised to implement nation-leading pre-commitment cards to help people struggling with the damage caused by poker machines. When he broke his promise and ditched the scheme last year, he said he’d at least talk further with other states and territories about how the system was working for them before implementing it in the future.
Now he’s backtracking even further, refusing to implement his promise until there’s a nationally agreed approach. It’s a disgusting admission from a Premier who promised to lead Tasmanians with heart.
Unfortunately, this new backflip isn’t surprisingly, given how many promises Jeremy Rockliff has broken to the Tasmanian people. He simply can’t be trusted.
This is a cop out that will cost people dearly. Abandoning this scheme will lock in the ruin of both families and futures. Poker machines don’t just lead to economics loss, but crime, social impacts and poverty.
Jeremy Rockliff turning his back on these life-saving initiative makes it clear where the Liberal’s priorities lie – with the profits of their major donors, the poker industry. This decision is a complete betrayal of the community.
Labor aren’t any better, pushing off any commitment to a pre-commitment card until other states and territories have implemented it. The major parties are controlled by their donors in the pokies industry. Only the Greens are fighting for Tasmanians, not the pokies barons.
