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Advice to Premier: stand up to more pokies push and throw off puppet tag
Sunday 13 December 2009
Greens MP and gambling spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on the NSW government to resist the latest push from the club industry to increase the number of poker machines and to have the tax on these machines reduced.
Read the article in the Sun Herald
"Premier Kristina Kenneally will just reinforce the puppet image she has been tagged with if she supports NSW Clubs’ demand to reduce or defer club tax payments," Ms Rhiannon said.
"If the Premier is committed to assisting the vulnerable in our society she will give priority to turning around her government’s gambling policy.
"NSW must start treating gambling as a health issue not a revenue tap.
"If Premier Kenneally has the courage to take on the club and hotel industry over gambling she will gain wide community support.
"A recent report challenges the gambling industry assertion that there is no link between problem gambling and access to gambling machines.
"Collaboration between Australian and New Zealand researchers undermines the spin coming from Clubs NSW with the assistance of their corporate backer, the accounting multinational KPMG.
"The report by Judith Stubbs and Associates, UNSW and the Auckland University of Technology also challenges the gambling industry on machine numbers. They have found that communities are willing to continually accept more pokies and that there is no saturation point.
"Rather than bow to industry pressure for more gambling machines the Premier should put forward a plan to reduce the number of machines in NSW.
"The Greens recognise the important community work NSW clubs undertake but using this argument to justify more gambling machines is just industry manipulation.
"Western Australia only has poker machines in the state’s casino. The clubs in that state have not suffered from the lack of a pokie-based revenue stream. There is a healthy range of state wide community and sporting facilities supported by local clubs and the government.
"The notion that in NSW community sporting facilities have to rely on money raised from gambling to exist is sick and has no part in responsible gambling and sporting policy," Ms Rhiannon said.
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