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The leader of New South Wales (NSW) Labor has released what he calls the “most comprehensive” gambling reform package in the state's history, including banning advertising outside gaming venues.
Chris Minns MP, who is currently in the running to become the next state premier, said his party has already begun to abide by a pledge to stop political donations from clubs with gaming machines and that rule would become law if he wins the state's election in March.
“All external signage (e.g. VIP lounge) promoting gaming machines around pubs will be banned,” the MP said on social media on January 6.
Minns also wants to reduce the number of gambling machines in the state, by requiring one poker machine ("pokie") to be forfeited for every two machines traded between a pub or a club.
The number of machines in New South Wales would immediately be reduced and a new “floating cap introduced” would go down every year as the number of machine licences goes down.
Minns further proposes to reduce poker machine cash input limits from A$5,000 to A$500.
A host of other changes have also been proposed, including a A$100m fund to tackle gambling-related harms, introducing a mandatory cashless-gambling trial with at least 500 machines starting on July 1, 2023, introducing responsible gambling officers in venues, and introducing a third-party exclusion process, as well as enhancing existing self-exclusion.
During a series of messages outlining Minns’ gambling reform proposals, he called out the current state premier and his main election opponent, Dominic Perrottet, a member of the Liberal Party, for failing to already outline his own gambling reform plans.
In response, Perrottet accused former NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr of putting pokies “on every corner” and said the current coalition government was cleaning up his mess through its planned reforms.
The head of Australia's most populous state has pledged to crack down on the powerful slots industry in the past few months.
Perrottet supports introducing cashless gaming, not just implementing a trial as Minns proposes.
Minns told local media he views cashless gaming as a complicated policy area that needs an evidence-based approach to avoid any unintended consequences.
The 2023 New South Wales state election will be held on March 25, with all 93 of its legislative seats up for grabs.
