By Tom Rabe
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns says he is prepared to reform the state’s lucrative gambling sector but only after the impact on the industry is fully calculated, despite a poll indicating the vast majority of voters want decisive action.
Minns, who has for weeks resisted supporting a widespread rollout of cashless gambling technology across NSW pubs and clubs, said he would not distribute 80,000 poker machines through the state if he were designing the industry today.
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said he would support the government if it launched a cashless gaming card trial.Credit: Peter Braig and Dominic Lorrimer
In his strongest comments on the gambling sector yet, the opposition leader on Wednesday acknowledged deep community concern over the issue and said he was willing to reform the massive sector, but only after a voluntary trial of a cashless gaming card.
He cited the potential impact sweeping reform could have on the 127,000 people employed by pubs and clubs as the reason a nuanced approach was needed to address problem gambling and money laundering.
The United Workers Union, which represents gaming room employees, has said there is little evidence the introduction of cashless gaming would lead to job losses, and called for reforms to protect its members from gambling-related harms.
“We are prepared to pursue that reform, but we want to understand what the scale and ramifications of that reform will be,” Minns said.
“I don’t think that’s an unreasonable position to take to the next election, but I’m prepared to deal with the judgement of the voters of NSW as a result of that position.”
A special survey conducted by Resolve Strategic for The Sydney Morning Herald found 62 per cent of voters back a cashless card for poker machines, with just 16 per cent opposed to any changes.
Voters also have little faith in pubs and clubs to deal with problem gambling, with only 28 per cent confident the powerful sector is doing enough and a hefty 47 per cent describing their efforts as poor.
Premier Dominic Perrottet has advocated to reform the gambling sector in the wake of a Crime Commission report that found pokie machines were being used to launder money. The commission recommended the introduction of mandatory cashless gaming to limit dirty money being pushed through NSW poker machines.
The government’s plan to introduce the cashless technology is expected to be contained in a wider response to the Crime Commission report, which is expected in the coming months. It is likely to include a wide-scale trial of a gambling card in specific areas of the state.
Minns said the premier needed to announce his policy on cashless gaming instead of broadly campaigning on the issue.
“I think the time for generalities, from [Perrottet’s] point of view, are over,” he said.
He also referenced the coal industry when warning of the potential dangers of immediate implementation of cashless gaming on Wednesday.
“There’s been a lot of talk about industry support packages and wage transition packages for the coal mining industry, and that’s fair enough, but that employs 20,000 people in NSW. This is an industry that employs six times that number and I think we need to be careful with reform,” he said.
High-profile anti-gambling crusader Tim Costello last month criticised Labor over its position on gambling reform, declaring the party “the party of social injustice”.
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