NSW Labor toughens pokies stance

NSW Labor toughens pokies stance

The NSW state government has passed a motion with unanimous support committing to higher taxes on some clubs and a moratorium on licences for new pokie machines.

The motion would mean clubs with profits of more than $20m on machines would pay more tax, coming with a commitment from Labor to “significantly reduce” the number of gaming machines in the state over 10 years (The Guardian).

Senior party figures at Sunday’s NSW Labor conference accused state politicians of bowing to pressure from lobby groups and “looking the other way” to maintain the status quo on poker machines (SMH).

“[The motion] is about lasting structural reform,” said gaming minister David Harris at the conference. “It puts harm minimisation at the heart of our gaming system, expands support for those experiencing gambling harm, strengthens prevention and ensures accountability is built into the system, not borne by those it has failed” (SMH).

The policy would also eliminate perks such as free food for punters and make facial recognition technology mandatory in all gaming rooms (SMH).

Read more: A thousand days of inaction on gambling reform (The Saturday Paper)