Finally, a humane pokies plan

The Mercury | Op-Ed | 21 September 2022

THE introduction of universal pre-commitment cards could be the first time Tasmania has a pokies policy that hasn’t been dictated by the gambling industry.

Given this state’s dark history of bowing to the wishes of the industry, my expectation was that the Liberal government, with its pokies-funded electoral victory in 2018, would never implement genuine harm reduction.

I was wrong.

And, true to my word, I was prepared to be the first to congratulate the Rockliff Liberal government for its unexpected and brave announcement last week.

Pre-commitment cards with default daily, monthly and annual loss limits will be effective in promoting safer use of pokies.

Crucially, the annual loss limit of $5000 – which can’t be extended without proof of financial capacity – should reduce the risk of catastrophic financial harm.

This should mean we no longer see Tasmanians losing their homes, their business or their life savings due to pokies addiction.

In July, more than $17m was lost to the pokies in Tasmania. Close to half of that came from people who are addicted.

Pokies addiction causes harm to the affected person and, research tells us, five to 10 people around them, including family members, friends and employers.

The gaming industry loves to misuse data and rant about pokies addiction being a small problem and warn that efforts to reduce harm will wreck everybody’s fun.

That’s utter rubbish.

This is a great outcome for the four in five Tasmanians who never use pokies – the only effect these cards will have is to better protect our family and friends from pokies addiction and the harm it causes.

Pre-commitment cards with set loss limits can be tailored to individual circumstances and won’t be detrimental to genuinely recreational play.

If the industry was committed to offering a safer product, it would welcome this sensible reform.

The plain truth is that effective harm reduction, by definition, will mean reducing profits from addiction, and that is what the industry is really railing against.

The pokies industry is not entitled to super profits from addiction despite the fact that political bullying has delivered it to them in the past.

Indeed, there is still much more we can do to make pokies even safer. To ensure ongoing improvement, the Tasmanian community should expect a unity ticket from all political leaders in support of this effort.

The pokies industry gains undue influence when it can wedge the major parties against each other, or by bullying them into submission.

The Liberal government has nailed its colours to the mast. Now it’s time for Labor to do likewise and categorically support this policy – the most significant step in minimising pokies harm in Tasmania since machines were first introduced. 

Meg Webb is the Independent member for Nelson.

See more of Meg in the media.