The Australian political party Greens New South Wales (NSW) have proposed a plan to gradually phase out poker machines, or pokies, from bars and clubs throughout the state.
The proposal, titled “Pull the Pin on Pokies,” would see the eradication of machines over the course of five to 10 years, due to a substantial tax increase for venues. The so-called “super tax” would start at 60 percent and increase annually.
Pokies have become a topic of heated debate throughout NSW in recent months, after a government report from late October revealed that the amount of dirty money being laundered through the machines on a yearly basis could be in the tens of billions.
As such, the Greens’ plan details strategies for venues to generate alternative forms of revenue while also allocating a higher percentage of existing profits toward responsible gaming efforts. The party has posited that the changes would result in over $3 billion in added state revenues in just five years.
Cashless gaming is also a point of emphasis for the party, as mandatory cashless play is something that has been repeatedly endorsed by the state’s Premier, Dominic Perottet, in response to recent findings.
“Our plan would repair the harm pokies have wrought on our communities and reduce the social costs of gambling by at least $87 billion over a decade,” Greens MP Cate Faehrmann told the Australian Associated Press.
Faehrmann added that the reforms are necessary because the proliferation of gambling in NSW has reached the point where it is “out of control.”
In response, ClubsNSW, a prominent trade organization that represents many of the bars and clubs that the proposed changes would impact, said that the Greens’ desires aren’t representative of the region at large.
A spokesman for the organization told the AAP that “While some 92 per cent of people in NSW visit a club at least once per year, only eight per cent of voters put the Greens first. It seems the public is happy with clubs the way they are and understand a vote for the Greens is a vote for economic ruin.”
The state’s voters haven’t necessarily confirmed those sentiments, as a recent survey conducted by Resolve Strategic showed that more than 60 percent of respondents were in favor of implementing cashless gaming—only 16 percent were opposed to such changes.
The survey, which was commissioned by the Sydney Morning Herald, also indicated that the public is not pleased with current harm minimization efforts. Just under half (47 percent) of respondents described the industry’s responsible gaming practices as “poor.”
Yet another character in the back-and-forth saga is one Troy Stolz, who previously served as head of anti-money laundering for ClubsNSW before sounding the alarm on potential shortcomings within the organization.
Stolz was recently sued by ClubNSW for releasing internal documents, some of which indicated that the vast majority of venues in the state were not in compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. The two sides are now entrenched in court proceedings—Stolz has accused the organization of launching a defamatory campaign against him in retaliation.
Following the release of the Greens’ proposal, Stolz told the AAP that the party “has a plan to address these issues, whereas the Liberal and Labor parties only plan to serve their master, the gambling industry.”
