Rex Gardner: White takes big punt on pokies

WELL done Rebecca White. Labor’s bombshell pokies policy has done everyone a favour, says Rex Gardner.

Labor pokies policy release. Rebecca White announces her party's policy on pokies at the Goodwood Community Centre earlier this week. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

WELL done Rebecca White. Labor’s bombshell pokies policy has done everyone a favour.

Now, we at least have a line in the sand between Tasmania’s political parties.

It has created a clear point of difference that will help voters make up their minds as this election campaign drags on for the next three months.

Labor will eliminate two thirds of the state’s electronic gaming machines from the state’s pubs and clubs from 2023.

The Liberals will only break Federal Group’s monopoly and tender out the rights to operate pokies in pubs and clubs from 2023.

So its black and white. No beige. A clear choice if the issue of poker machines five years hence matters more than the current ailing health system, schools, traffic congestion and roads, jobs, the economy, local government.

But beware the smoke and mirrors, though.

Pokies in a suburban Hobart pub.

No matter which party you vote for in the upcoming election, they’ll only be in power until 2022 and won’t be enacting their pokies’ policy in the next term.

That’s two elections away.

Labor’s brave pokies’ policy may sound great, but that’s the extent of it.

It won’t stop gambling, but it will remove the convenience of pokies just around the corner or up the street at the local pub or club.

It may also prove to be a stupid policy, because diehard Labor voters who like a flutter, a chat and a cheap meal will be most affected.

As well, the public’s dislike of the nanny-state philosophy is getting traction, and this policy eliminates personal choice.

Australia has 200,000 poker machines — one for every 120 people — which swallow the lion’s share of the staggering $25 billion-plus we as a nation shell out on gambling each year.

But while pokies attract most gambling revenue, online gambling — particularly using mobile devices — is growing fast. It is friendly, easy and offers lots of choice. You can do it on your mobile lying in bed at 3am.

Losses on pokies are said to average $633 per adult across Australia. NSW is highest at $978 per adult in NSW, and lowest in Tasmania, at $283 per adult.

Tasmania has something like 3560 gaming machines, which collect about $215 million each year. Two thirds of the machines are in pubs and clubs. The other 1185 machines are in Federal’s casinos and on the Spirit of Tasmania.

Just because you remove the pokies in the pubs and clubs that are close to home, won’t eliminate the culture of gambling that is so strong across Australia.

People with a penchant for a punt “won’t take up knitting and crosswords” just because their pokies venues have disappeared.

Labor’s new pokies policy is populist and will strike welcome chords with many, but it will be of little consequence in stamping out the ravages and despair of gambling addiction.

It far from the conclusive, outright ban on pokies that the anti-lobby want to stamp out the electronic gaming industry.

What’s next from Labor?

Labor has proposed banning pokies in all suburban pubs and clubs.

Will they ban pints and even schooners in pubs to slow beer drinkers down?

Will cigarettes become shorter to save lives? Will sugary soft drinks and confectionary be sold in plain packaging, or at least displayed only on the highest supermarket shelves?

More seriously, the pokies debate will go on for ever and bring out the best and worst in people and institutions. The truth will be hard to find among the emotion and the threats from the pubs and the clubs and the biggest monetary loser of them all, the Federal Group.

Managing director Greg Farrell has declared war on Labor and threatened a fierce campaign to preserve the gaming industry and the right to make choices.

Political donations to Labor will cease, he’s accused Rebecca White of inexperience, says jobs will go throughout the pubs and clubs and every section of the Federal Group would be affected.

Federal Group would even review its presence in Tasmania if the policy was put in place.

Tasmanian Hotels’ Association general manager Steve Old, an old Labor stalwart who previously worked as a senior adviser to Labor Premiers Jim Bacon and Paul Lennon, said THA and members were shocked by the Labor policy, and venues could close.

Sadly, Australia is the greatest gambling nation on earth. Deep within us is where the problem lies — not just because there’s a gaming machine up the road.

Whether it is our risk and reward culture, our rebellious spirit, our lives lacking excitement, the power of marketing, or a cultural tradition hanging over from the good old days, gambling is part of our entertainment heritage.

Labor in Tasmania won’t stop this by annoying patrons at the local pubs and clubs. In an instant these punters will find other ways to gamble, most probably online, which in time could be far more devastating.

IT’S TIME FOR LABOR CANDIDATE TO JUNK MAIL POLICY

YOU can trust me to listen, says Tim Cox, the ex-ABC voice who’s standing for the ALP in the Denison in the upcoming election.

Well Tim, it seems by your own admission you can’t be trusted to listen. In fact, you can’t be trusted to read a perfectly simple request many of us have stuck on our letter box.

It is the No Junk Mail message. They are everywhere — in fact Tim even has one at his place.

But, in his pumped-up enthusiasm in the run for State parliamentary office, Tim’s stuffing pamphlets into every postal orifice up and down the streets of Denison regardless of whether they want junk mail or not.

For those without a ‘No Junk Mail’ sticker...

And for those with a ‘No Junk Mail’ sticker

He’s got two pamphlets with different messages. One for people who don’t care if they get junk mail, and one pamphlet for people like Tim and the rest of us who don’t want it.

Try Tim’s pamphlet message for us no junk-mailers for a burst of arrogance ……

“HELLO! I saw your No Junk Mail sticker (I have one too) but I think it’s important to know what your election candidate stands for.

“You may have heard me on radio over the years or met me hosting a community event.

“We’ve talked through the good times and the bad. Now it’s time for action. You can trust me to listen and work hard to build our community so that ...”

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thanks Tim for trampling over what is our first-line, simple defence against being bombarded by unwanted stuff in our letter box. You’re on your way to a stellar political career.

What’s that old saying … … no one is so deaf as those that will not listen.

Rex Gardner is a former chief executive of the Mercury.