In a shocking turn of events, the influential trade body ClubsNSW has fired longtime CEO Josh Landis after comments he made towards Premier Dominic Perrottet about the adoption of cashless gaming in New South Wales (NSW).
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published February 1, Landis said that Perrottet didn’t understand the complexities of cashless gaming, and that his passionate cry for reform was due to “his conservative Catholic gut rather than based on evidence.”
Mere hours later, ClubsNSW released the following statement:
“After careful consideration, the Board has made the decision to end Mr Landis’ employment with ClubsNSW with immediate effect. The Board acknowledges Josh Landis’ exemplary service to the industry over more than 15 years through some very difficult times. We genuinely wish him all the best on his future endeavors.”
In his own statement, Landis said that he wished to “unreservedly apologize” for the comments, and added that it was “not a premeditated comment or an intentional attack on the Premier personally, rather it was a poor attempt to explain that there is a lack of evidence for the policy and the Premier is a moral person who intrinsically wants to help those who are causing themselves harm.”
Perrottet has championed a total cashless transition throughout the state, with ClubsNSW being his biggest opponent. The public discourse had been escalating for months, but Landis’ recent incident is an indication as to just how heated the talks have become.
At a press conference soon after the news broke, Perrottet told reporters that “there is no place for comments like that in modern Australia.”
The fallout could not have happened at a worse time for ClubsNSW, which had recently released its own updated code of practices ahead of March’s elections, with cashless notably absent altogether.
Instead, the group’s updated code included several changes related to responsible gaming and self-regulation, including:
- Increased welfare checks on gamblers, preferably every three hours;
- The appointment of a responsible gaming officer for each member facility;
- No admission for known or suspected criminals; and
- No admission for self-excluded gamblers and/or known problem gamblers.
If enacted, the new code would go into effect this July.
Supporters of cashless—and general reform—have already scoffed at the trade body’s proposal for being too little, too late. The editorial board of the Herald, for instance, has already denounced the code, saying that it shouldn’t have gotten to this point in the first place.
Andrew Wilkie MP, an independent politician and outspoken gambling detractor, told the Herald that this is absolutely a “watershed moment” for the state as it tries to get a grasp on its gambling industry, which has been overcome with suitability inquiries, anti-money laundering violations and more for the last two-plus years.
Wilkie also said that any government that relies on gambling revenues is “morally bankrupt.”
Australia has long been one of the biggest gaming markets in the world in terms of individual consumer spend, however all data, including figures from the responsible gaming organization Gamble Aware, indicates that the level of problem gaming in the country is only around 1 percent.
Thus, operators and trade bodies feel that much is being made of a problem that in reality is not very big. However, the general consensus is that changes will be made no matter what—it’s just a matter of how extreme and how soon.
