Inner West Council will decide whether to push for reforms to minimise harm caused by poker machine gambling at its meeting this week.
Councillor Liz Atkins (Greens) and Councillor Pauline Lockie (Independent) will table a motion for Council to write to the Premier and Opposition Leader to support calls for cashless mandatory cashless gaming and harm reduction payment systems, a single state-wide self-exclusion register funded by gambling tax revenue, and for all poker machines in pubs and clubs to be turned off between midnight and 10am.
“We know that gambling contributes to poverty, poor mental health and suicide. The connection between gambling and domestic and family violence is also well documented; gambling leads to an increase in both the frequency and severity of intimate partner violence against women, as well as a higher prevalence of financial abuse,” said Councillor Atkins.
Billions of dollars in “dirty cash”
“The NSW Crime Commission has found that billions of dollars of dirty cash from the proceeds of crime is being laundered through NSW poker machines, and their number one recommendation to combat this was that the government should introduce a mandatory cashless gaming system,” said Cr Lockie.
“A voluntary cashless gaming system wouldn’t work, as criminals seeking to launder money will simply opt to use cash instead.”
Councillors Atkins and Lockie are also calling for Councils to have a statutory right to have a say on every poker machine application in their communities, and for NSW poker machine data to be transparently published by venues at least every six months.
“People deserve a say on poker machines in their area. Yet the Gaming Machine Act carves poker machines out of the usual planning processes, the only carve out of its kind, preventing councils and communities from any direct role in reducing their harm,” Cr Atkins said.
The motion also commends Inner West venues that are pokies free, including the Petersham Bowling Club, the Carlisle Castle Hotel in Newtown, the Annandale Hotel, and The Henson and the Concordia Club in Marrickville.
“The Inner West ranks among the top 20 local government areas for poker machine losses in NSW, so every pub or club that chooses not to profit from pokies and the harm they cause our community is to be commended,” said Cr Lockie.
