Ironic, isn’t it? Federal Group is now talking about respecting existing laws and processes when it comes to the proposed stadium vote in Parliament.
I’m glad the company is raising issues of due process and fairness — even if its motives are unclear.
But if Federal is serious about the public interest, it should stop undermining the Government’s nation-leading poker machine reforms. These reforms are simple: players choose their loss limits in advance. It’s about putting the power into the hands of the player — for the first time.
Despite delays caused by industry pushback, our policy remains. The reform will be implemented. The only question is when.
Other states are moving ahead. Tasmania was first to announce it, but we’ve lost our lead — for now.
Still, I’m confident we’ll get there. And when we do, I’ll be proud to have continually stood with strength and grace against the powerful vested interests to deliver reform that protects a person’s right to gamble, but will stop them losing everything.
One day, even those who profit from legalised misery will come around to this: due process.
From my speech to Parliament earlier this year, March 5, 2025:
Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to address pokies reform. The work that I undertook as treasurer and in my role as minister for Finance delivered the entirety of the future gaming markets policy that our party took to the 2018 election together, with commitments made in this House during the debate, to make Tasmania a safer place for people to gamble their own money if they want to – and we are talking here about a mandatory pre-commitment scheme, the gold standard in pokie harm reduction.
It has been recommended by the nation’s Productivity Commission years ago, by the way, recommended by our own Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission, already implemented – this is not a well-known fact – in Federal Group’s Launceston and Hobart casinos for their premium players program, and currently in the process of being implemented across all venues, casinos, pubs and clubs in Victoria. Good on them.
I take this opportunity today to make the vow that, for whatever time I serve as a member of this House, as Liberal member for Bass, I will remain totally committed to the policy contained within the ministerial direction of September 2022 and our pre-election commitment to maintain that policy with additional harm-reduction measures while we work through the timeframe.
The Treasurer has informed me that the 2022 ministerial direction remains current and in force and that is a very good thing. I am pleased to be able to say, and the Premier has assured me, that the government remains committed to the policy, but there is a matter of timing, getting it implemented, utilising national understanding, including in the work occurring in Victoria in a smooth and effective manner, and I accept that.
My position is to work for and, when necessary, fight for what is good for the people of our state, the public interest.
I am continually appalled but not surprised at the behaviour of some in the gambling lobby who have done extremely well out of the reforms that this House delivered and were successfully implemented on 1 July 2023. They are fiercely protecting their extraordinary additional profits and lobbying to hold back reform. Who will disagree with me?
The central point is this – these overdue reforms will put real power back into the hands of players deciding in advance how much money they wanted to be able to lose before they start losing. This is a power shift from the software that is legally programmed to influence the player to think that they are winning when they are actually losing, and it will not in any way stop people choosing how to spend their own money. Again, who could argue with that?
Of course, I take the opportunity to say that I stand by the statements contained in my letters that were amongst a range of documents released recently. They speak for themselves.
