Election 2018: Australian Hotels Association study claims 9000 jobs will go under SA Best poker machines policy

HUNDREDS of hotels would go out of business and about 9000 workers would lose their job within five years under SA Best’s poker machine policy, research commissioned by the Australian Hotels Association states.

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HUNDREDS of hotels would go out of business and about 9000 workers would lose their job within five years under SA Best’s poker machine policy, research commissioned by the Australian Hotels Association states.

Mr Xenophon’s softening in the polls ahead of this weekend’s state election has partially been attributed to the AHA’s aggressive campaign against SA Best.

It has prompted a spirited defence from former Labor speaker John Trainer, who said Labor was “foolish” to let poker machines spread to pubs in the 1990s.

An anti-pokies campaigner behind SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

And it sparked a call from SA Best for Woolworths — which has an interest in almost 1000 machines in SA — to get out of the gambling business.

In the latest salvo between the warring groups, a 24-page report by Harvest Strategy cites international research claiming there is little evidence that limiting access to gaming machines leads to a reduction in gambling addiction.

Author Dr Rohan Miller, a senior lecturer at Sydney University, said research showed it was “very rare” for someone to have a “pokies only” addiction.

The breakdown of pokies revenue in South Australia.

“It is Harvest Strategy’s opinion that the implementation of the policy will result in hundreds of hotels going out of business,” the report states.

“It is our opinion that at least 1000 equivalent full-time hotel workers will lose their jobs in each of the policy’s first five years.

“That is, more than 5000 equivalent full-time — or as many as 9000 people — will lose their hotel-based job within five years.

“Suppliers — banks, bakers, butchers, farmers, transport workers — will lose substantial trade, and this will result in redundancies throughout the value chain, and harsh pressure will be placed on businesses trading with hotels.”

Under the SA Best policy, poker machine numbers in SA would be cut by a third over the next five years and $1 maximum bets per spin would be introduced while maximum jackpots would be slashed to $500. Licences would be for seven years from next year – putting the debate on ending licence extensions, and therefore getting rid of pokies altogether, on the 2022 State Election agenda.

AHA SA general manager Ian Horne said the policy would be a “disaster” for the hotel industry.

Mr Xenophon said the argument being put forward by the AHA “defies all logic and reasoning”.

He pointed to SA Centre for Economic studies modelling which showed far more jobs were created through spending on hospitality — pub meals and drinks — than cash flowing into pokies.