After withdrawing from bipartisan support for mandatory precommitment in 2024, the Labor Party now claims it has held a consistent position on this policy.
This video sets out a clear timeline of Labor’s own public statements, showing how that position shifted over time.
What’s striking is not just the change itself, but when it occurred, and the growing influence of the gambling lobby during the same period.
The record is public. Viewers can judge what drove the change.
If Labor disputes this account, readers are encouraged to consult the full Hansard records of the relevant Parliamentary debates. I’ve provided links to the full Hansard of the two debates here: 14 October 2021 and 19 November 2024.
Many will criticise me but I believe that in some cases poker machines do create a problem but on the other side of the coin they create work.
Many retired people who have lost their life partner meet to have lunch at a venue play a few dollars interacting with people they know and they do not feel so lonely and isolated.
Sadly we have become a dictatorship on what we should or should not do, what people do in their lives is their own personal responsibility not the governments
It is rather hypocritical of the government to ban and or control them as you receive taxes from them.
Again yes some people have an addiction but not all
Hi Di – I respect where you are coming from. The Deloitte Access Economics report would disagree with you regarding jobs. The pokies employ so few people that any harm reduction that still allowed people complete freedom to continue to play would lead to an ADDITIONAL 209 jobs. That is because other industries, if supported, employ many more people for the same amount of spending. I would strongly disagree on freedom to play, that is the great mischief that the industry have been peddling. The major rule change that has been proposed is that before a player starts playing, they type in how much is their limit. So it’s not a ban in any way shape or form. Please think about the fact that people put in more money, believing they can win back what they lost. Guess what? Industry can’t stand that idea. Ask yourself why!