Greens bid fails in forcing government to produce key pokies report

Government has remained quiet on when a key pokies report, used to bat down the pre-commitment card, will be produced. Rolling coverage.

Leader of the Opposition Dean Winter asks questions in parliament on Tuesday 19th November 2024. Picture: Linda Higginson

The day after a no-confidence motion in the Premier was defeated, Wednesday will be a lively sitting day as one of the last days for Tasmania’s parliament. Follow for The Mercury’s rolling coverage.

Government still shy on release of pokies report as Greens bid fails

12.16pm: A Greens bid to force the government to produce a key report it used to justify its changes to poker machine reforms has failed.

Party leader Rosalie Woodruff moved a motion demanding the government produce a report by MaxGaming into the mandatory pre-commitment card by 5pm on Thursday.

The government cited the report when it hit the brakes on a mandatory pre-commitment card for poker machine players on Tuesday.

Leader of the Tasmanian Greens, Dr Rosalie Woodruff in Parliament on Tuesday 19th November 2024. Picture: Linda Higginson

It said the document “revealed a likely significant cost increase and implementation delays and further outlined the complexity of the proposed card-based system, including the need to create a centralised banking system.”

On Tuesday and again on Wednesday, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the report would be released at some point.

“We will take advice on releasing aspects of the MaxGaming report, given that there are some matters of intellectual property in there, which we will need to work through,” he said.

“However, we are fully committed to openness and transparency.”

Dr Woodruff told parliament the report had been with the government for some time and there was no good reason for it to be withheld.

Leader of Government Business Eric Abetz said there was no rush.

“No case for urgency has been made out in relation to the request for this report,” he said.

“The premier has made it clear the report will be released.

“The premier has made it clear there are issues in relation to intellectual property that need to be resolved. As soon as they are resolved it will be released.”

Labor’s Shane Broad agreed that the matter was not urgent and said his party would not back the motion.

Liberal member for Bass Rob Fairs with former deputy premier Michael Ferguson. Return to the House of Assembly question time. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Liberal backbencher Michael Ferguson said he would like to see both the reports the government had commissioned on gambling.

“I will be very surprised if the Delloite work doesn’t say that harm minimisation is good for the economy,” he said.

The motion was voted down after a short debate.

The Liberals, Labor and three of the five independents were opposed.

The Greens and independents Craig Garland and Kristy Johnston were in favour.

Independent MP Kristy Johnston said the report should have been released.

“First, he hung his hat on a surprise Deloitte’s report hoping a story about jobs would kill the card – but that report is a mysterious no-show,” she said in a statement.

“He’s now wriggled away from Deloitte towards a report by MaxGaming.

“The problem is of course he hasn’t released the MaxGaming report.”

Bullying still rife among public servants

10.35am: Tasmanian public servants still lack an adequate mechanism to protect themselves from bullying four years after the state’s industrial commission first pointed out the need for reform.

The latest State Service annual report reveals 21 per cent of public sector employees experienced bullying in the past 12 months – and only 40 per cent of respondents said they felt comfortable to report being bullied.

In his annual review tabled in state parliament, Tasmanian Industrial Commission David Barclay repeated his annual appeal to the government to do something to help protect public servants from bullying.

“In previous reports, I noted that bullying remained an issue and that there was no mechanism by which a state servant could adequately seek a remedy to stop bullying,” he wrote.

“I recommended amendments to the Industrial Relations Act 1984.

“Over the current year, bullying has remained a feature of some applications.

“The need for a bullying jurisdiction remains and I venture to repeat what I said last year.”

Mr Barclay first raised the issue with the government in 2020.

“The Commission should be able to inquire into bullying for the purposes of making orders to stop bullying and to prevent future bullying,” he wrote in that year’s annual review.

“The Commission should also be able to make ancillary orders requiring persons to undergo training into the ramifications of bullying and to learn strategies to ensure that bullying does not happen again.”

Originally published as Greens bid fails in forcing government to produce key pokies report