Statement 24-06-2026
Independent Member for Nelson Meg Webb said today the Rockliff Government has formalized its capitulation to the gambling lobby with its repeal of the Ministerial Direction to implement the nation-leading pokies mandatory pre-commitment card in favour of industry-backed watered-down measures.
“The repeal by the Rockliff Government of former Minister Ferguson’s directive to implement a gold standard mandatory pre-commitment card is a deeply disturbing development, which risks entrenching ongoing pokies harm across the Tasmanian community,” Ms Webb said.
“This is a blatant capitulation by Government to gambling lobby interests”
“It beggars belief that we are deliberately abandoning our nation-leading precommitment card, which the Government’s own commissioned Deloitte review, released in January, gave a glowing assessment finding the proposed card would both cut harm while also driving economic growth and creating potentially hundreds of jobs.
“Despite the Deloitte assessment, the Premier has inexplicably decided to turn his back upon evidence-based reforms and instead resorted to measures which at best will provide superficial changes and at worst will drive deeper and greater harm.”
Ms Webb said as predicted and warned, the move to an individual venue license model in 2023 has seen a highly concerning trending up of pokies losses in Tasmania.
“At the current rate, the total losses for 2025-26 will be well over $200 million, presenting a significant and disturbing jump on the previous year’s losses.
“Evidence tells us around half these losses come from people being harmed by pokies addiction. That is indisputable.
“It is shameful, incomprehensible and fundamentally irresponsible for the Rockliff Government to abandon the promised gold-standard pokies pre-commitment card.
“The card was guaranteed to both cut harm while also benefitting the State economically.
“Instead, we move to industry-dictated measures that will cause more harm.”
Link to Tasmanian Government Gazette, Wednesday 24 June 2026
Statement – Kristie Johnston MP 26-06-2026
The Tasmanian government has formally ditched its once nation-leading pokies mandatory pre-commitment card reform, prioritising pokies profits over kindness and care for Tasmanians yet again.
It repealed Michael Ferguson’s 2022 ministerial direction to introduce the heralded harm minimisation measure yesterday, killing the card by issuing a new Abetz ministerial direction (attached).
Mr Ferguson championed the card as core to his self-extolled personal humanitarian beliefs. He must today be feeling ashamed. The move is deeply worrying.
But sadly, it’s unsurprising for a government regularly abandoning ordinary Tasmanians for entitled elites, in this case favoured industry donors.
Ditching the mandatory pre-commitment card is contrary to strong evidence showing it is the gold standard in pokies harm minimisation.
More staggering – if that’s possible – ditching the card clearly contradicts a report by Deloitte commissioned by the government finding it would cut harm as well as drive economic growth and employment.
The reason for the government’s long delay last year in publishing the Deloitte report’s inconvenient truths was unfortunately obvious.
The report said the reform could deliver up to $230 million of economic benefit, create 200 jobs, and save the government millions of dollars in health, community and corrections spending, simply by introducing the pre-commitment card as initially proposed by Mr Ferguson.
The government will instead introduce an industry-imagined “ticket-in, ticket-out” system which perversely will likely lead to more pokies losses and harm, according to Deloitte.
Under the ticket-in, ticket-out system a ticket is needed to use a poker machine but unlike the proposed mandatory pre-commitment card limits, a player can lose far more than $100 in a day or $500 in a week.
The Government will also allow ATMs back into venues, a retrograde step that will see more harms from gambling and alcohol use alike.
Fact. Tasmanians are on track to lose more than $200m in 2025/26. Half of those losses will come from people being harmed by the addictive nature of these rapacious machines.
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