‘No Pokies Nick’ Xenophon rules out banning pokies from pubs and clubs

SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon — elected as ‘No Pokies Nick’ – will not ban pokies from pubs and clubs.

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NO POKIES Nick Xenophon is officially no more.

The SA Best leader says his soon to be released gambling policy will “significantly reduce” the number of pokie machines, but has ruled out Tasmanian Labor’s election policy of scrapping the machines from pubs and clubs.

Mr Xenophon, who was originally elected to SA’s Upper House on a no pokies platform, denied he had been cowed by the hotels industry, saying his policy would still prompt the Australian Hotels Association to “spend hundreds of millions of dollars campaigning against me”.

It comes as his newly announced candidate, Paul Brown, told a mental health state election forum that it was “not realistic” to remove pokies from every pub and club.

But Mr Brown said the state could have “some control” over them.

“I acknowledge the problems that pokies does cause ... so it’s part of the fabric of what creates mental health issues in this state, pokies is one of the issues,” he said,

Greens MP Tammy Franks, who has pledged to phase out pokies from pubs and clubs inside five years, said Mr Xenophon’s change in position was “a slap in the face”.

She said Mr Xenophon’s opposition to removing them was particularly disappointing given it had the support of the more conservative Jacqui Lambie Network in Tasmania.

Nick Xenophon when he was running as the No Pokies Party.

“The people of South Australia have believed he stood for no pokies, people with gambling addictions have believed he stood for no pokies,” she said.

“When the pressure is on Nick Xenophon goes to water.”

Health Minister Peter Malinauskas said Mr Xenophon had rapidly shifted from “no pokies to pro pokies”.

Mr Xenophon rejected criticism he had gone soft on his opposition to pokies, saying his policy would be “much more robust” than either the Labor or Liberal parties.

He said the policy — set to be released in the coming week — would lead to a “dramatic shift” in the pokies industry, but also the online gaming industry.

Mr Xenophon said Tasmanian Labor’s policy was a good one, but would not work in SA.

“In Tasmania all the machines are owned by one company and will still be allowed in the two casinos but here they are owned by hundreds of companies,” he said.

“I’m confident we’ll be the party the AHA is most worried about getting in because our policies will represent the biggest threat to what is happening currently.”

Mr Xenophon said he would also be focused on harm minimisation, which he said would entail much more than his already announced pledge to legislate $1 maximum bets on pokies.