‘Morally bankrupt’: gambling reformist blasts Labor over pokie policy

A federal MP who saw the collapse of a gambling reform deal with the Gillard Labor government says history is repeating itself in NSW.

Andrew Wilkie, the independent member for the Tasmanian seat of Clark, blasted NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns’ plan for a trial of cashless pokie gambling in the state as a “bullshit” solution to a political problem rather than a genuine attempt at reform.

“NSW Labor will show themselves to be morally bankrupt if they don’t support the implementation of cashless poker machine cards,” Wilkie says. “They will show that they’re not fit to govern NSW.” 

Wilkie withdrew his support for prime minister Julia Gillard’s minority government in 2012 after she backflipped on a deal to make it mandatory for gamblers to commit in advance how much they would spend — among other reforms — opting instead for a trial of the changes. 

He claims Minns’ plan shows it was “in the Labor DNA to support the [gambling] industry” and laments that the Labor opposition in Tasmania and NSW were being lapped on gambling reform by the Liberal Party.

“People regard me as somewhere between a centrist and a lefty, and my voting record obviously leans towards Labor,” Wilkie says.

“Most people would assume I’d be barracking for Labor at the NSW election, but unless Labor say they will support or implement a cashless card, I’m hoping the conservatives win — and that’s a big thing for me to say.”

Labor’s customer service spokesperson Yasmin Catley said in response to Wilkie’s comments that the party’s plan was “measured, balanced and evidence-based”.

“Labor has announced a measured, balanced and evidence-based approach — backed unanimously by the shadow cabinet — to address problem gambling and criminal activity in our gaming sector in NSW,” she told Crikey.

“We look forward to seeing the detail of the NSW Liberals and Nationals’ policy, whatever that may be, since so far they’ve failed to explain it.”

Minns has said his pokies policy would “get the balance right” between the competing interests of stakeholders and that his party would take an “evidence-based approach” to a “complicated policy area”.

On Tuesday Minns accused the state’s Coalition government of lacking a plan to deal with the issue. 

“We’re currently at a point where Labor has a comprehensive plan that we’ve released to the NSW public, and we’re still waiting [for Premier Dominic] Perrottet to give a semblance of an idea of the initiatives he will pursue,” he said. 

Perrottet’s government has said it will reveal the details of its own gambling policy “very shortly”.

Although the premier has publicly committed to making pokie machines cashless — a move that’s meant to curb problem gambling and money laundering — he might have some trouble getting his way in cabinet, where many Nationals have reservations about the proposed reform. 

Nationals Leader Paul Toole has refused to commit to the cards without first consulting the industry. 

A Nationals source told Crikey the party’s reservations had to do with the importance of clubs for rural communities. The source said the Nationals had a “philosophical difference” with the Liberals based on how clubs participate in rural areas and how they interact with metropolitan communities.

The Nationals source cautioned the government should not make any big reform decisions without first consulting all the relevant stakeholders.

“When the government goes out alone and unilaterally makes decisions without consultation, that lack of consultation can come back and bite us,” they said.

However, the source refused to concede that the Nationals’ position was similar to the Labor policy: “The Labor policy is still a crock of shit.”