Governor’s Address in Reply extract – Poker Machine Reform
Governor’s Address in Reply | Pokies Extract | 24 June , 2021
It will come as no surprise to those in this Chamber that when it comes to discussing elusive matters in the Government’s agenda, one topic I will not let pass without comment is poker machine reform. I say elusive, because it appears this is the policy that must not be named, or at least the policy that must be kept out of sight, so as to be out of mind to the greatest extent possible. Why would this be? Why would it be that this policy, the policy most visible at the 2018 election, indeed the policy that funded the 2018 election for the Government, subsequently appears to have been hushed up and pushed down to the end of the queue? Originally promised to come to this place in the first half of 2020, COVID-19 appeared to provide a reason for its delay. However, if the bill was on track for the autumn sitting of 2020, the exposure draft should have been very close to being ready at the time that COVID-19 struck and able to be progressed at some point during that year once the early stages of the pandemic had abated.
Despite then being promised to be progressed in the first quarter of this year, it did not rate a mention in the Premier’s Address in March, not a whisper. In my reply to the Premier’s Address, I spoke about the Government’s long-stalled future gaming markets reform. Let me remind you briefly of what I said at that time:
… should we be in a position where an early election is called and will be held prior to political donation reform and prior to Future Gaming Market reform, I call on the Government here and now, and all other political parties, to make public commitment not to accept any pre-election donations from any poker machine industry entities or any entities directly associated and financial beneficiaries of the poker machine industry. I call on the Government right now to make that commitment to the Tasmanian people. We deserve to go to the next election with a clear understanding that it is not being funded, bought or influenced by that same industry.
That was a prescient call, as an early election was then immediately called by the Government. Tasmanians went to the polls in May, in the dark yet again as to the full extent of the financial influence brought to bear by the poker machine industry on that fundamental pillar of our democracy, our state election. Yet again. There is a simple way to put paid to the stain that this casts on the integrity of our democracy, a very simple way to restore public confidence. That would be for this Government, and all parties, to fully disclose right now exactly what financial gifts were provided to them by any poker machine industry interests prior to and during the 2021 state election campaign. Make it public, declare it openly.
If they are not ashamed of it, why would they not declare it to the Tasmanian people as a matter of transparency and integrity? The continuing buying of influence, indeed buying of policy and regulatory outcomes, casts a rank shadow over this Government until it has the decency to come clean to the Tasmanian people. We are right to ask questions about that influence. Via the budget Estimates process last year we were told to expect the pokies legislation in the autumn sitting of this year after an exposure draft was to be released and consulted on. During budget Estimates, on 24 November last year, in response to a question on the time frame, the Premier said:
The negotiations that are underway with Federal Hotels regarding casino taxes and fees in Keno are still on foot. I expect that we would conclude those, I would hope, before the end of the year. Next year, legislation, once drafted, will go out for public consultation and then we will introduce it in the autumn session.
That is interesting. So was it actually COVID-19 back in March last year that delayed the progress of this reform, or was it actually the ongoing, unresolved negotiations with the largest vested interest in the industry? Did those negotiations conclude, as expected, by the end of last year? If not, are they still underway? Importantly, most importantly, were those negotiations concluded prior to the election being called?
Well, what do we know about that? The Premier was asked on ABC radio in March, after the election was called, about whether the casino pokies tax rate had been decided and what it would be. The Premier, point-blank, refused to answer that direct question. He did not say it was yet to be resolved and negotiations were continuing. He just refused to answer the question.
It was put to him that voters deserved to know, ahead of the election, what taxation rate a major donor to his party was going to pay. He refused to answer. Voters certainly did deserve to know what special deals had been locked in for Federal Group in regard to its pokies and Keno taxation rates. In refusing to answer this very straightforward question, the Premier deliberately kept voters in the dark on a key piece of information about state revenue which was related directly to the vested interests of a major donor to his party.
Why was not the Premier keen to seek a mandate from Tasmanian voters on that matter, I wonder? This is a government very fond of claiming mandates for things they have taken to elections. If it was resolved prior to the election, why did not this Government take its casino pokies tax rate and Keno tax rates to the Tasmanian people to have their say? If the rate had been decided the only reason to keep that piece of information secret prior to the poll is if the Premier believed it would be politically and electorally damaging to him and his party for it to be made public. Key information about state revenue relating directly to the vested interests of a major party donor. Surely, given the secrecy, we can only expect that a sweet deal has been made.
I wonder what proportion of the taxation discount provided under this reform for Federal Group – money that will go to the profits of a private company instead of Tasmanian hospitals and schools – what proportion of that gifted taxpayer money is making its way back into Liberal party coffers through political donations? Thanks to the deliberate delay in progressing donation reform by this Government we will never know the answer to that. It is disgusting.
After avoiding any voluntary mentions at all of poker machine reforms in the context of that election campaign the Government has also failed to mention it in its first 100 days plan. This is the policy that must not be named, indeed. Perhaps the Government hopes that if it delays long enough and sneaks out the exposure draft at some point the public might go all hazy on the circumstances around this appallingly bad reform. What is the bet that it will be done on a Friday afternoon as quietly as possible?
Let me wrap this topic up with a quick reminder on those circumstances. The policy being implemented by the Government literally was written by the vested interests of the poker machine industry. They wrote it and tabled it in the dying days of the parliamentary inquiry into future gaming markets in 2017. Time prevented the inquiry fully considering the industry proposal but the two pieces of expert comment that were obtained on it at the time by the inquiry both raised serious concerns at its appropriateness.
The first of those, the Tasmanian Gaming Commission, said it would be harder to regulate that model and likely cause increased levels of community harm. The second piece of comment and advice came from the expert economic group, Synergies, who were assisting the inquiry. Their advice questioned whether that model provided the most advantageous economic outcomes for the state or not. Despite those two pieces of advice, within months, the Government had adopted that industry-written policy. This policy, flagged by the Gaming Commission as likely to cause greater harm, is being progressed by this Government without any corresponding preventative harm minimisation which would be very straightforward to implement and commit to. We can easily make poker machines safer in Tasmania with no negative impact on recreational use and no negative impact on jobs directly associated with that industry. We have simple evidence-based measures available. Most are just simple programming matters which would be effective in making pokies safer and protecting Tasmanian families and communities.
There is no reason a responsible government and a responsible parliament would not put the interests of its community first and choose to effectively regulate an addictive product known to cause high levels of harm. Especially when those protective measures will have no negative impact on the recreational use of that product or on jobs associated with that product. The only impact would be to reduce in some measure that proportion of the industry’s profits which comes from users who are addicted. Why would a responsible government choose to protect the private profit derived directly from people suffering a harmful, diagnosable addiction above the wellbeing and health of the people and communities it is supposed to represent? I look forward to exploring that question once we do finally have this policy and legislation progressed. Presumably at some point it will emerge from the shadows.
Watch or read Meg’s complete Governor’s Address in Reply speech.
