‘A no-brainer’: Unions NSW joins Perrottet’s cashless pokies push

The state’s top union leader has made a dramatic foray into the debate over the future of poker machines by backing Premier Dominic Perrottet’s cashless gaming card proposal, in a decision which puts Unions NSW at odds with Labor just two months from the election.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey told the Herald the “time for talk is over” because “pokies reform should be a no-brainer for politicians of all stripes”.

“We need action on cashless gaming cards now,” Morey said.

“The NSW union movement has a proud history of standing up for all working people. We have a rare chance at bipartisanship which will overwhelm the club lobby’s deceitful tactics of threatening jobs and communities to kill reform.”

ClubsNSW has vowed to wage war against a cashless card, arguing that it would be too costly for venues and would trigger thousands of job losses in the industry. It has described the proposal as “reckless” and claimed the government wants to monitor and track all gambling transactions.

The union movement’s new position is in sharp contrast to state Labor and its leader Chris Minns, who has stopped short of backing a cashless card and only supports a voluntary trial of the technology to determine what impact the proposed reform could have on the industry.

But Morey said the “vast sums of money put through pokies amount to a tax on working people” and poker machines were “taking billions from workers’ pockets and facilitating money laundering”.

“Within these vast headline figures lie shocking numbers of ruined lives, lost wages and acute social damage,” Morey said. “We know that working-class communities disproportionately shoulder the burden of problem gambling.”

He said this was a “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle an insidious problem in our society” but stressed that any reform had to protect workers.

Unions NSW boss Mark Morey says poker machines are “taking billions from workers’ pockets”.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“The government that enacts this policy must ensure it does so with a guarantee that no worker will be left worse off,” he said. “We need a comprehensive package to make sure anyone whose job is affected by the transition is supported financially and vocationally.”

ClubsNSW has vowed to wage war against the cashless gaming card, saying the proposal is “reckless”.Credit: Josh Robenstone

The powerful union group’s stance will bolster Perrottet’s push to remove cash from the state’s 90,000 poker machines in a bid to stamp out money laundering and combat problem gambling.

Other high-profile supporters include NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb, anti-gambling advocate Tim Costello, the NSW branch of Health Services Union and United Workers Union, churches and leading charities.

Costello told the Herald the union movement should be congratulated for “standing up” to protect the community and workers.

“The police commissioner, NSW Crime Commission, unions, churches and civic leaders are all calling for a cashless pokies card so Chris Minns has the simplest political choice ever faced by an aspiring premier: the community or the predatory pokies industry,” Costello said.

“He must cease repeating the delaying tactic of NSW pubs and clubs by advocating a trial and he must support the cashless card reform.”

Perrottet’s decision to pursue a cashless gaming card followed a damning report from the NSW Crime Commission in October which found poker machines were being used to wash dirty cash from proceeds of crime. The commission’s report recommended a cashless gaming card.

The premier has promised to detail his proposal for a card ahead of the March poll but faces fierce opposition from ClubsNSW which is determined to make it an election issue.

A new online campaign run by ClubsNSW said the “proposal is reckless and unproven” and would not stop criminals, but would increase problem gambling. The lobby group has also vowed to target any MPs who support the cashless gaming card proposal.

RSL clubs have also been urged to oppose Perrottet’s planned reforms. The chief executive of the RSL and Services Clubs Association Margot Smith said the industry supported a “digital solution” for poker machines, but clubs did not “want to harm the majority of our communities to placate the minority”.

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