The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has welcomed another in a long line of national polls showing overwhelming support for poker machine reform.

The Public Opinion on Gambling ANUpoll July 2011 found there was “considerable support, even among people who gamble frequently, for the idea that people should be limited to spending an amount they nominate before they start gambling’’.

The ANUpoll of 1,213 people conducted in April-May found;

Three quarters of respondents agreed that people should be limited to spending an amount they nominate before they start gambling.

Even among the most frequent gamblers, a majority (67 per cent) were in favour of people nominating a spending limit before they start gambling.

In terms of gambling regulation, a majority of respondents believed that gambling in Australia should be more tightly controlled (70 per cent).

Problem gambling is clearly associated by the public with suicide, marital problems and parental neglect.

Mr Wilkie said the ANUpoll showed Australians were no longer prepared to stand by as poker machines ruined people’s lives.

“Problem gamblers routinely lose everything including their jobs, family and friends, homes, minds and sometimes even their lives,’’ he said.

Mr Wilkie said the poll also showed Australians had recognised the lies in Clubs Australia’s desperate attempt to stop mandatory pre-commitment and protect the billions the pokies industry harvests from problem gamblers every year.

“Some $5 billion a year is lost on poker machines in Australia, much of it from people who cannot afford it,’’ he said.

“Millions of Australians are suffering from poker machines and something must be done about it as quickly as possible.’’

Last year, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, agreed with Mr Wilkie to introduce mandatory pre commitment on high-intensity poker machines by 2014.

Since then the Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform Mr Wilkie chairs has recommended small venues with 15 or fewer machines be given until 2018 to introduce pre-commitment.

The committee also recommended the introduction of low-intensity poker machines with a maximum $1 bet that could be operated outside of the mandatory pre-commitment scheme.

Andrew Wilkie, Independent Member for Denison