Why Labor is justified in breaking this election promise on poker machines

At first glance, the Minns government’s decision to back away from an election pledge to buy back 2000 poker machines seems a betrayal of the many who have worked tirelessly for decades to reduce the tragic impact of gambling on many NSW lives.

But the reality is that we are unable to kick the habit. We have Australia’s highest number of poker machines, and they remain a blight on our state.

NSW Labor has walked away from a promise to remove 9500 poker machines from the state, but we understand why.Credit: Peter Braig and Dominic Lorrimer

NSW politicians have been jockeying around on poker machine reform since late 2022, when the NSW Crime Commission delivered a damning report that found a significant amount of dirty money was being washed through them. Amid momentum for change, then-opposition leader Chris Minns vowed to hold a cashless gaming trial, buy back 2000 poker machines and increase the forfeiture rate. The latter two measures, we were told, would lower the number of machines in NSW by 9500.

The trial was completed late last year but many thought it was set up to fail. The Independent Panel for Gaming Reform delivered a 530-page report, Roadmap for Gaming Reform, last November. And at a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey cited its advice when confirming Labor had abandoned its promise to buy back machines from gambling venues. “We’ve listened to the advice of our expert panel, who have suggested that is not a good use of public money,” he said.

The report noted that a buy-back scheme would cost an estimated $60 million. Even at that expense it would do little to counter the harm inflicted by the 85,000 or so poker machines now in use in NSW. “Additionally,” the report said, “other jurisdictions with a far smaller number of gaming machine entitlements also have similar prevalence of gambling harm, indicating that aiming to reduce the number of entitlements may not substantially decrease the gambling harm experienced.”

Even a respected gambling reform advocate, Wesley Mission general manager Jim Wackett, agrees the buy-back would have had a “negligible effect” on harm and says Labor was right to “fess up” and say so.

The Herald has long campaigned for reform and we have no intention of backing off now. Our instinct is not to be happy about Labor’s ditching of an election promise, but in light of such advice from the independent report and the likes of good people like Wackett, the Minns government’s decision to break an election promise is perhaps understandable.

However, our major concern is that not enough is being done to stamp out cash. Despite research showing cash is a major driver for problem gamblers, the independent report neatly stepped around the issue of cashless gambling and recommended what it coyly termed an “account-based gaming system” to monitor everyone using poker machines.

The statewide introduction of a cashless gaming card must be the guiding light of reform. While the Herald and our readers may understand the decision to ditch the buy-back pledge, we will not be so kind if Labor ultimately worms its way out of a cashless gaming future.

Bevan Shields sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.