Australia’s No. 1 anti-gaming lawmaker, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, has come up with a new way to bring the industry to task. His “Pokie-Leaks” campaign, being launched along with Greens Senator Larissa Waters and Independent Denison MP Andrew Wilkie, asks industry insiders to come forward with information to prove that the industry targets vulnerable players and pays off politicians, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The move comes as Crown Casino and Australian pokie manufacturer Aristocrat are being taken to court by former gambler Shonica Guy, now a supporter of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. Guy has claimed that her losses were the result of deceptive practices.
Any information gathered in the campaign would be released in Senate quarters using parliamentary privilege, the MPs said. They promised to keep whistleblowers’ identities private, reported the Guardian Australia.
“We want to help the public realize that they’re being conned by poker machines,” Waters said. “The industry has a history of making big donations to the major political parties, and they’ve got a history of suing politicians who get in their way. So I’m under no illusions that this will be a walk in the park.”
Australians are the world’s biggest gamblers—and the biggest losers. In 2014-15, they forfeited $1,241 per person on gambling. And poker machines won $11.6 billion from players, an increase of 4.9 percent over the previous year.
Xenophon says he recently heard from an anonymous source who substantiates his claim that poker machines are designed to get gamblers hooked.
“If you know something that needs to be revealed, tell us, and with parliamentary privilege, we can tell everyone,” he said. “For too long, this predatory industry has relied on secret and harmful features which are designed to be addictive. This information needs to be out there in the court of public opinion.”
