“Clear and present danger is pokies”
Earlier this month, the state government of Tasmania resumed its inquiry into the local gaming industry and how it will operate when the Federal Hotel’s monopoly on poker expires in 2023. According to the Advocate, a senate committee looking at the matter will submit its final report by the end of September.
Pokie critics are pleading their case to remove poker machines from clubs and pubs and reserve them only for casinos. Pokie supporters say limiting the industry will cost the state substantial tax revenues and jobs and push gamblers to play online.
In hearings in February, Federal Hotels and the hospitality industry said they believed online gaming to be a bigger threat than pokies. Federal Hotels Managing Director Greg Farrell pointed to a treasury study that showed 7 percent of Tasmanians have played online; in his view, this group has four times the risk of compulsive gambling.
Meg Webb, manager of the Anglicare Tasmania Social Action and Research Centre said there’s no research to support Farrell’s contention. “There is no link between these two activities in any research,” she said. “The motivations between these two forms of gambling are different. While participation in online gambling is growing, it only accounts for a small part of problem gambling activity in Tasmania.
“The clear and present danger,” she said, “is pokies.”
Major Brad Watson of the Salvation Army said online gamblers, “suggested to be mostly younger, employed men,” are different from “unemployed or socially isolated people seeking community and activity at a gaming venue. Therefore, notwithstanding that all gambling has potential negative financial and social implications, the typical outcomes and most-likely-affected persons would be quite different.”
A Senate committee last year investigated how the government could better control the online gaming. The Australian Psychological Society says there should more and better education and harm-minimization efforts to safeguard vulnerable players. It said the government should appreciate the diversity of online gamblers and not view them as “a homogenous group.”
