Economy
Wilkie will walk if pokie deal dumped
FEDERAL POLITICS
November 21, 2010
EXCLUSIVE
KEY independent Andrew Wilkie has warned he will withdraw his support for the Gillard government if it fails to honour a deal to introduce new technology forcing poker machine players to set binding limits on their losses.
Clubs and hotels are furious, claiming the mandatory pre-commitment system demanded by Mr Wilkie will trigger industry-wide job losses and huge revenue cuts for state governments.
But Mr Wilkie – who helped Labor secure a second term with an agreement to rein in the poker machine industry – said the reform was not negotiable.
“There should be no misunderstanding at this point that if the government was to renege on this aspect I would pull my support instantly,” Mr Wilkie said. “There shouldn’t be any uncertainty about what is going to be implemented, because my agreement with the Prime Minister is absolutely clear: it is a uniform, full system, a mandatory system.”
Under the agreement to win Mr Wilkie’s support signed in September, the government promised to introduce a “best practice full pre-commitment scheme” across all states and territories by 2014.
That means players will be asked to set a limit on how much money (and possibly time) they want to spend, with an option to choose not to set a limit at all if this is their preference. The limits will be enforced using identification technology, most likely involving the use of smart cards.