Reform package to allow notes in pokie machines may fail, as Upper House crossbench opposes it
A move to allow notes in pokies may never get off the ground, as the entire Upper House crossbench opposes it. One called the reform “as balanced as an elephant and a mouse sitting on a seesaw”.
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Upper House crossbenchers have united to reject a State Government move to let poker machines accept banknotes, potentially dooming the move.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman on Thursday revealed details of a sweeping package that includes allowing note acceptors on machines and extended gambling times, which she says is “balanced” by a crackdown on barring orders and more spending on programs to stop people from problem gambling.
The entire Upper House crossbench has told The Advertiser they hold grave concerns about note acceptors, and one said Ms Chapman’s package was “as balanced as an elephant and a mouse sitting on a seesaw”.
That makes Labor’s position decisive, and offers it the numbers needed to block the change if it chooses.
Opposition treasury spokesman Stephen Mullighan said his party would consider the package closely.
Mr Mullighan said that he held concerns about abolishing a legal target to cut the number of poker machines, and a lack of action on online gaming.
Mr Mullighan said it might be possible to approve note acceptors on machines, as long as other controls were in place to ensure that it did not worsen problem gambling and blow out losses.
SA Best MP Connie Bonaros said the Government was paying back a “vulgar reward” to the hotel industry for its support during last year’s state election.
“Let us be very clear, note acceptors are not a harm-minimisation measure – they are the complete opposite of that,” she said.
“Every single problem gambling expert will tell you that – yet the Attorney-General is using that argument as a selling point to her outrageous plans.
“(The) announcement is nothing more than payback, a vulgar reward, to the Australian Hotels Association for its loyalty to the Liberals during last year’s election campaign and the vast sums of money it gave them to help it win.”
The AHA has consistently rejected suggestions of buying policy influence, and had donated to both major parties.
It ran a public campaign at the 2018 election focused on stopping former senator Nick Xenophon’s push to be state kingmaker.
Greens MP Tammy Franks said she supported measures to allow indefinite voluntary barring for people who identified as themselves as having a problem.
She said the overall package was “as balanced as an elephant and a mouse sitting on a seesaw” and she would use the debate in Parliament to push for further crackdowns, including bans on political donations from groups which profited from gambling.
“I’m agnostic, I’m not a Christian, but I also don’t really think it’s appropriate to have gambling on Christmas and Good Friday,” she said.
Asked about note acceptors, independent MP John Darley said: “I don’t think that’s any good.
“That makes it even worse.
“I wouldn’t support it.”
Ms Chapman said that she was unable to say what limit, if any, would be placed on the value of bills used.
If we don’t evolve, we won’t survive
Clubs could swell their pokie fleets from a current maximum of 40 to a new cap of 60 under a State Government reform package.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said it would not result in more pokies overall in SA, because clubs would be required to buy off other clubs. Para Hills Community Club general manager Cameron Taylor told The Advertiser his club was already at the limit and would consider more machines if allowed.
“The costs that we can’t control, like power, are just continuing to go up,” he said.
“If we don’t evolve, we’ll be dead in five years’ time.”
Mr Taylor said community clubs had personal connections that boosted their focus on stopping problem gaming.
“Even before we had codes of practice and all of that, we were speaking to our members and saying ‘don’t let these things take the shirt off your back’. We know these people … they’re family, in a sense.”
Gaming bunfight but where is Mr X?
Opinion – Daniel Wills
South Australia has kicked off its first big pokies brawl of the post-Nick Xenophon era.
Both the issue and the man defined much of SA politics for the past few decades, and his presence and showmanship were hugely influential in making the state stand out from others as a particularly tough place for pokie barons.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman is now moving to allow note acceptors, and a lot of other changes that will make it easier to punt, saying the reforms will bring SA into line with much of the rest of the nation.
The fact that SA is so far “behind” the trends of pokie barns in places such as NSW is proof that the now-Citizen X has left a real political legacy.
The man himself is unlikely to emerge from a self-imposed exile after the disappointment of the 2018 state election result, where his SA Best party failed to live up to what now looks to have been impossibly high expectations.
But he continues to cast a long shadow and has left new pokie warriors in his wake.
Over the years, Mr Xenophon managed to drag three MPs into State Parliament under his banner who are still there and gearing up to take up exactly where he left off.
SA Best MP Connie Bonaros, a former staffer to Mr Xenophon, said she’d made contact with her mentor but didn’t expect to see him on the trail.
Ms Bonaros said yesterday: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I hadn’t already had discussions with Nick about this.
“This is something that we’ve both worked on for a very long time. I respect that he’s gone back to private practice, and I respect his right to privacy.
“He’s passed the baton on to me well and truly, and I hope I can live up to his expectations.”
No one will be able to capture the public attention and political imagination as Mr Xenophon did, with his penchant for stunts and sound bites.
But he created an environment where those who come now have a headstart in their bid to win the day.