Jeremy Rockliff’s decision to abandon the mandatory precommitment card for poker machines is sickening.
After weeks of dishonesty, denial, and dismissal from the Premier finally we have a concrete answer about his plan for pokies – and it’s terrible news for Tasmania.
Make no mistake – this is a complete abandonment of a policy that should have already been in place this year.
Whatever his other faults, the Michael Ferguson model for pokies would have been nation-leading. It would have saved lives and livelihoods, given kids a better life, benefitted our community, and been better for the economy. What the Premier has announced rips all that to shreds.
The Jeremy Rockliff pokies scheme will entrench disadvantage and poverty among vulnerable Tasmanians. It will ruin families and futures. And as much as you might not want to hear it, it’s no exaggeration to say it will cost lives.
This is a plan for perpetual pokies harm and for profits over people. The Premier has let the pokies lobby win. Again.
Premier Rockliff has made much of his commitment to vulnerable Tasmanians, but with this announcement he’s betrayed them. His legacy will rest on this decision. This craven decision was done to deliver bigger profits to the pokies industry, no matter the cost to the community.
