The cashless gaming debate in New South Wales (NSW) is raging on between politicians, gaming operators and trade bodies, and Premier Dominic Perrottet is standing firm in his fight to mandate cashless play for all venues, regardless of size.
When asked by reporters at a January 19 press conference about the possibility of excluding regional bars and clubs—most of which are remote and small in size compared to city venues—from the cashless mandate, Perrottet said that it’s all or nothing.
“The policy is this—we are having cashless gaming in NSW,” Perrottet said, as reported by Yahoo! News Australia. “That is the destination. The finer details are being worked out.”
The questions were inspired by Deputy Premier Paul Toole, who previously indicated that he would have been open to some kind of regional exception for cashless play.
At the recent conference, however, Toole made sure to set the record straight, telling reporters that “(Perrottet) has made it very clear that cashless gaming is the destination.”
Toole did acknowledge, however, that “we all know that a large venue in the city is very different to a small venue in the bush.” The deputy premier has also noted in the past that regional venues often help fund community organizations and services.
In October of last year, the NSW Crime Commission released a scathing report detailing how criminals in the state often use poker machines to launder money or gamble with crime proceeds. The commission estimated that several billion dollars of dirty money is being cycled through the state’s machines on a yearly basis.
Cashless play was among the top recommendations from the commission, and Perrottet has championed the movement ever since. Now that elections are approaching in March, the various political parties in the state are declaring their loyalties.
The Labor Party, which has perhaps been the most critical of Perrottet, recently outlined its own proposal, which would encompass just 500 machines in a 12-month trial in order to gain sufficient evidence that the systems actually work effectively.
That proposal has been criticized from all sides as being too lenient—current Treasurer Matt Kean told reporters at a January 17 press conference that Labor’s proposed legislation was “a gaming policy written by the gaming industry for the gaming industry.”
The National Party, of which Toole belongs, has been hesitant to back a complete transition, but is facing increased pressure to do so.
Former deputy prime minister and prominent National figure John Anderson recently came out in support of cashless, telling the Sydney Morning Herald that the good does not outweigh the bad when it comes to problem gambling at regional venues.
“This idea that this is some sort of bonanza for regional development, I simply don’t buy it,” Anderson said. “It isn’t worth the social cost. I don’t believe the economic argument.”
The Greens have been critical of both sides for their suspected ties to the gaming industry and the bar and club industry, which has flexed its muscle in recent months lobbying against Perrottet’s proposals.
As reported by Yahoo! News Australia, Greens MP Cate Faehrmann told media on January 20 that any benefit that comes from gaming at regional venues is likely “a service the government should be providing” instead.
In efforts to reduce said lobbying influence of the gaming industry on the state’s politics, Perrottet is also believed to be working on legislation that would ban venues with poker machines from making political donations.
Per the Sydney Morning Herald, casino operators are already barred from donating but bars and clubs are not. In the 10-year span from January 2011 to June 2021, the Herald reported that bars and clubs donated more than US$400,000 to various political campaigns.
