Fears new gambling and poker machine study results will be ignored

An outspoken pokies critic has raised concerns an upcoming study into the economic and social effects of gambling in Tasmania will be ignored by policymakers.  

 ECONOMIST Saul Eslake has been appointed to help carry out a three-yearly study into the effects of gambling in Tasmania, but the news comes amid concerns that any key findings could fall on deaf ears.

The state government has assembled several research groups headed by the South Australia Centre for Economic Studies, with Mr Eslake providing local input, as part of its legal requirements to periodically examine the social and economic effects of gambling in the state.

Independent MLC Meg Webb, a vocal critic of Tasmania’s poker machines, said the reports rarely fed into state policy.

“Rather we see industry-led policy trotted out at every turn,” she said.

Ms Webb said the state government announced its poker machine policy prior to the last election before analysing or publicly releasing the previous study results in 2017.

“It would be extraordinary to see a repeat of this. It will be telling if the government brings new licensing legislation to parliament before this (study) is completed in June 2021,” she said.

“To do so would make a mockery of any claims to be acting in an evidence-based way in the best interests of the Tasmanian community.”

She said July’s pokies losses of more than $19.4 million – the highest monthly loss since December 2010 – were a “clear warning” that gambling and pokies in the state were being used as “harmful and dangerously expensive stress relief”.

Mr Eslake, who has not yet been provided with the terms of reference, said whether the final report actually made any difference in Tasmania depended on its aims.

“A report like this can make a difference if the person who writes the report wants to make a difference, and the government they’re writing it for wants to make a difference,” he said.

“The obvious question is do the benefits to Tasmania in terms of tourism and jobs and tax revenue … do they outweigh the costs in terms of problem gambling?

“Then you might ask, are there things that you can do to improve that balance?”

Ms Webb said the study should deliver a clear picture of the effects of gambling, particularly pokies use, on the state in its post COVID-19 social and economic recovery.

The study is currently calling for submissions.

amber.wilson@news.com.au  Mercury

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