Media Release: July Pokies Losses of $600,000 per Day Demand Urgent Action

July Pokies Losses of $600,000 per Day Demand Urgent Action

Tuesday, 2 September 2025

Independent Member for Nelson Meg Webb today described the monthly July pokies losses, totalling almost $18.5 million, as a clanging alarm bell demanding urgent action.

“Tasmanians lost almost $18.5 million on pokies over the month of July alone, which is almost $600,000 lost each day,” Ms Webb said.

“This extremely high monthly loss figure is on top of the annual losses for 2024-25 which totalled $193,908,165, a decade high level of poker machine losses from the Tasmanian community.

“Half the pokies losses come from people addicted to the machines.

“The harm causes ripples out into our community – breaking families, causing crime, homelessness and mental ill-health. This can be prevented with straightforward, evidence-based measures, like a pokies card.

“Labor and Liberal cannot keep turning a blind eye as these shocking community losses continue to grow.  This harm is a direct result of their policy collusion and kowtowing to the pokies barons over the public interest. 

“Tasmanians cannot afford for this alarm bell to be ignored. We can take action, and we can take it swiftly.

“In the current power-sharing House of Assembly, if the Rockliff Government continues to abrogate its responsibilities to the community, all it would take is for Labor to work with the cross bench and reinstate the promised mandatory pre-commitment pokies card.”

Ms Webb said the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission was well down the path of developing the mandatory pokies pre-commitment card when the Liberals backflipped on their implementation commitment earlier this year.

“However, the Commission is still in a position to pick up this work and continue it – all we need is the go-ahead from the Treasurer.

“Shamefully, Tasmania’s nation-leading pokies mandatory pre-commitment card was abandoned by the Rockliff Government to curry favour with the vested interests of the pokies industry, which are major donors to the Liberal and Labor Parties.

“Both the Rockliff Government and the Labor Opposition were happy to abandon implementation of our nation-leading mandatory pokies card, but with this clear evidence of increasing harm to Tasmanians, they must rethink their responsibilities, prioritise the community and reinstate the life-saving pokies card reforms,” Ms Webb said.

Monthly Pokies Losses  in arrears data: https://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/liquor-and-gaming/gambling/community-information/gambling-data/gaming-machine-expenditure-by-rolling-year