The Tasmanian Greens today said the $5.4 million Federal Budget allocation for the Australian Gambling Research Centre was a good step, but was no substitute for genuine action to reduce the harm from poker machines.
Greens Gaming spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that in the absence of any Federal Government plan beyond researching the impacts of pokies addiction, Tasmania must lead the way with state-based legislation for a $1-per-spin bet limit.
“Next week we will be bringing legislation on for debate to introduce a $1-per-spin limit on poker machines,” Mr Booth said.
“This federal funding is a significant step, but just to put it into perspective, you could pay for nearly 40 of these research centres using the money that Tasmanians lost to pokies last year.”
“This centre will no doubt provide some useful research, but what is far more important is how governments put that research into action.”
“Ever since the Federal Government backed down on mandatory pre-commitment it has had no plan to address the scourge of poker machine addiction, which is why the Greens are taking strong action at the state level.”
“This will significantly reduce the amount of money lost by problem gamblers to poker machines in Tasmania, which is still staggeringly high at close $200 million last year.”
“We are calling for a commitment from Labor and Liberal to show some compassion for pokies addicts, and join with the Greens to support this important piece of legislation.”
“The Liberals supported a $1 bet limit in 2009 but delayed action citing lack of information about implementation costs.”
Kim Booth MP Greens Gaming Spokesperson Wednesday, 15 May 2013
