White sticks to pokies policy in Labor state conference speech

TASMANIAN Opposition Leader Rebecca White is standing by her party’s policy to remove poker machines from the state’s pubs and clubs.

UPDATED: TASMANIAN Opposition Leader Rebecca White is standing by her party’s policy to remove poker machines from the state’s pubs and clubs.

Labor campaigned at the March election on a controversial pledge to phase out electronic gaming machines by 2023, in contrast to the Liberal Government.

“Labor recognises that poker machines are the source of so much pain and poverty in the community. Quite simply it was, and still is, the right thing to do,” Ms White told the party’s state conference in Hobart today.

ALP members this morning voted on the senate preselection ticket.

It is understood Senator Lisa Singh has been relegated to the bottom of the ticket, with official results to be announced this afternoon.

Later, the conference will debate a motion from Young Labor aimed at handing more power to rank-and-file members in electing a leader, proposing to change the rules so each vote is weighted equally.

Ms White will move an amendment that will instead split the vote between members and conference delegates.

EARLIER: STATE Opposition Leader Rebecca White will stick to her guns on Labor’s pokies policy when she addresses the party faithful at Tasmanian Labor’s state conference this morning.

She will also acknowledge the work to be done to win back voters’ trust and pledge to “make a difference”.

Labor leader Rebecca White with Deputy Leader Michelle O'Byrne at the state Labor conference at the Hobart Grand Chancellor today. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Her speech, shared with the Mercury, will dispute the Liberal Government’s claim that Tasmania is in a golden age and seize on the state’s educational outcomes, issues with abortion access, the 2 per cent cap on public sector wages and rental crisis as a call to arms.

MORE: GUTWEIN SAYS WE’RE GOING GANGBUSTERS

MORE: PUBLIC SERVANTS DEMAND THREE PER CENT PAY BOOST

“Tasmania needs a government that is compassionate, a government that focuses on people, a government that put their interests before vested interests,” she will say.

“Friends, this state needs a Labor government.”

The Labor conference will be held in Hobart this weekend after a delay the party attributed to the Braddon by-election.

MORE: DELAY TO SHORE UP WHITE’S LEADERSHIP, LIBS SAY

The task ahead, Ms White will tell the party, will be to set the foundations for winning government. She will pledge to consult with the community and “do a better job of promoting our ideas, communicating our values and listening to Tasmanians”.

“I recognise that the Labor Party still has work to do to build trust with voters, particularly those who have drifted away since 2010,” she will say.

Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

The party’s divisive pokies policy taken to the March election will be labelled a “brave decision” by Ms White. The proposed ban of pokies in pubs and clubs raised the ire of the powerful Federal Group and sparked a statewide campaign against Labor.

MORE: PUBS, CLUBS TAKE AIM AT POKIES BAN PLAN

Ms White will compliment her own party’s field campaign and lash out at “millions of dollars worth of negative television advertising paid for by vested interests”.

“We had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remove the source of so much pain, suffering and poverty in our community and we took it,” she will say of the pokies policy.

“Quite simply it was, and still is, the right thing to do.”

Ms White, who polled ahead of Will Hodgman as preferred premier this week, will also chalk up Speaker Sue Hickey’s appointment as the party’s first post-election win.

MORE: LIBS SLUMP IN LATEST POLL

“I can promise you that was just the first of the many wins the Labor Party will have over the coming months and years as we continue to build momentum,” she will say.

This weekend Labor will also announce its Tasmanian senate candidates and debate how the party should elect its leaders.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein yesterday pre-empted the Labor conference outcomes and pointed to strong growth under the Liberals.

“Given their policies were so unpopular at the last election, is Rebecca White really going to double down and accept even more anti-jobs policies?” he said.