The NSW Labor Party will reportedly prioritize at its upcoming state conference a proposal to halve the number of poker machines in Australia’s most populous state to around 45,000 over the next decade.
Media outlet The Sydney Morning Herald says the proposal, moved by Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, has received support from both the left and right factions of the ruling Labor Party and from Unions NSW boss Mark Morey amid concerns that not enough has been done to minimize gambling harm.
“One thing we’ve learnt over the last few years is there has got to be a reduction in the number of machines and, honestly, if you have more than 20 poker machines, you’re a casino and you should be regulated like a casino,” Morey told The SMH.
Byrna added, “Overwhelmingly, Labor Party members and the general public want to see the government take action to reduce harm from poker machines. “An ethical issue of such importance can no longer be left to the state parliamentary party to decide. It’s time that our whole party faced up to the damage this scourge is causing to our people.”
Discussions at the state conference in July would include financial support measures for venues impacted by the loss of some or all poker machines.
The latest push to reduce the number of poker machines in NSW from almost 90,000 currently – the majority of which are located in pubs and clubs – comes with the state government having refrained from committing to a rollout of cashless gaming technology across NSW venues following recent trials.
That’s despite cashless being rolled out across The Star Sydney and Crown Sydney casinos.
The state government has, however, introduced other reforms for the pubs and clubs sector, including a standard six-hour window between 4am and 10am during which time all pubs and clubs across the state will be required to switch off their gaming machines.
Other initiatives include reducing the cash input limit from AU$5,000 to AU$500 for all new gaming machines, reducing the state-wide cap on gaming machine entitlements so that every year the number of gaming machines reduces based on forfeiture rates, banning political donations from clubs with electronic gaming machines, banning external gaming-related signage and internal gaming-related signage that can be seen from outside the venue, and introducing Responsible Gambling Officers in venues with more than 20 gaming machine entitlements.
Australia’s financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC last week ordered Bankstown District Sports Club, located in Sydney’s southwest, to appoint an external auditor amid concerns its anti-money‑laundering (AML) controls may not be strong enough to prevent organized crime from exploiting poker machines at the venue.
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