Under proposed new legislation the Gillard government hopes to be implemented by 2014, anyone wishing to play a poker machine in Australia would have to set a limit as to how much money they would be willing to spend before they begun.
Figures released by the Victorian Commission for Gambling this month show that $2.6 billion was poured into pub and club pokies in 2010-11 over a twelve-month period.
The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin is one of several MP’s who is in favour of reforms in order to reduce the number of problem gamblers.
“Pre-commitment is an effective way to encourage better money management and more informed spending decisions, particularly by problem gamblers,” she said.
“The Productivity Commission estimates that there are between 80,000 and 160,000 problem gamblers … our reforms will help limit the damaging effects of problem gambling, while continuing to let thousands of Australians enjoy recreational gambling in pubs and clubs.”
A pre-commitment system involves a limit being set by the player on how much they are willing to spend in each session. Once the limit is reached, the player would be locked out from playing any poker machines for 24 hours. Anyone wanting to play the pokies would have to sign up for a smart card, and all machines would be linked to a central server.
The man behind the proposal is Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who is one of four independents who holds the balance of power in the Australian government. Wilkie pledged his support to the Labour party in 2010 on the grounds that the government would take measures to introduce a mandatory pre-commitment system on poker machines by 2014.
The MP has vowed to withdraw his support for the Labour party if legislation is not passed by May 31, 2012, which could potentially bring down the government.
“If they don’t pull off this reform, I will withdraw my support,” said Wilkie last month.
“I will do it regrettably, but I’m a man of my word and I will hold the government to the commitment they made to me.”
Although Wilkie and the Gillard government believe these measures would curb problem gambling, if the reforms were to go ahead, not only the revenue of pubs and clubs would suffer.
In April, Clubs Australia launched a $20 million advertising campaign against the reforms, on the grounds that mandatory pre-commitment would not only hurt pubs and clubs but also cut jobs and force funding cuts to sporting clubs and the community in a move they describe as ‘un-Australian”.
“Across Australia, pubs and clubs directly employ more than 90,000 people and there are untold thousands of people employed downstream in associated industries,” reads the campaign’s website.
“These laws will force hundreds of clubs and pubs to close or downsize and many jobs will have to go.”
Furthermore, the chief executive of Clubs Australia, Andrew Ball claims that no sporting club will escape the “massive financial hit” if the new measures are introduced.
The Yarra Valley Cricket Association (YVCA) is one such organization that could lose out. One of the association’s main sponsors is Knox Tavern, a family run pub in Wantirna South with a gaming room that currently contains 77 poker machines.
The Secretary-Treasurer of YVCA, Keith Thompson, believes the association, which caters for cricketers from young to old will certainly be affected if Knox Tavern were unable to continue the support it currently offers.
“The support provided to the YVCA by outside sponsors including the Knox Tavern allows us to do many and varied other activities,” Thompson said.
“These include additional support for our senior and junior representative sides, the continued support by the YVCA towards charitable events, and [the sponsorship by Knox Tavern] allows the YVCA to have and promote the overseas and international opportunities we offer to our members young and old alike … without un-quantifiable support of the Knox Tavern this would simply not be possible.”
“We would not be able to promote the game as we do, we would not be able to provide international opportunities as we do, and the costs of any such activities would be, without doubt, 50% higher, maybe more.”
Thompson said he had never heard of any concern from players, parents or association officials that YVCA was sponsored by a company who gained profit through gaming machines. When asked of his thoughts on the pre-commitment proposals, he was firm in opposition.
“Those people should ensure that they take control of their own lives and finances and not seek others to do it for them, I do not support the nanny state approach what so ever.
Anti-gambling campaigner and independent senator Nick Xenophon believes that something must be done to address the alarming rates of problem gambling and supports the reforms.
“$12 billion a year is lost on the pokies, 100,000 Australians are problem gamblers and an additional 200,000 are significantly at risk of developing a full-blown addiction,” he said.
“What’s un-Australian is that these Hotels and Clubs want to make money off the losses of problem gamblers.”
“The issue here is to do something about problem gambling, the people whose lives have been devastated by poker machines … It’s about helping those who sometimes lose up to $1200 an hour on the pokies.”
Director of the University of Sydney’s Gambling Treatment Clinic, Professor Alex Blaszczynski has doubts on the effectiveness of the proposed measures on treating problem gambling.
“I don’t believe that pre-commitment is going to have its desired effects, “ she said on ABC’s Four Corners in June.
“I think there may in fact be an unintended consequence where gamblers set higher limits and then will gamble more amounts of money to meet those particular limits.”
A growing concern is that in the instance that problem gamblers meet their limits and are unable to continue on the pokies, they will move to online gambling where there are no limits and players can use credit cards to punt.
Clubs Australia believes that pre-commitment measures “treat all gamblers as problem gamblers” and many in the industry claim that pubs and clubs will lose revenue from casual gamblers who won’t bother to sign up for the smart card, not problem gamblers who may be limited in their spending.
“Majority of gamblers are once off, social gamblers who have a “pre-commitment strategy” in their minds already with an intention of how much they will spend,” says Laura Buttigieg, manager of the Knox Tavern gaming room for four years.
“They would more than likely be offended by the idea of a computer/system patronizing them and telling them how to spend their money.”
“Gambling is legal for anyone over 18 years old because society has deemed that age old enough to make educated decisions, so I’d be more inclined to say there is no need for more changes or restrictions, just an increase in awareness and responsibility. Education not limitation.”
Although Buttigieg says she appreciates the “good intention” of the government with regards to the reforms, she, like many is skeptical of their motives.
“If the government was actually serious about stamping out gambling, they would make it illegal,” she said.
“However, as we all know, the pokies bring in such a large percentage of income for the government that it’s understandable that they are not ruling it out completely … their number one priority is to find that balance of keeping voters happy and keeping the gambling dollar coming in and I am sure they will continue to roll out more “changes” or “restrictions” to show society that they are doing their part.”
Whilst many problem gamblers may support the changes to curb their spending, many of those who aren’t are less than welcoming.
“That’s a load of crap isn’t it,” exclaims Kenny Holland, a regular customer at Knox Tavern who admits to the occasional punt.
“If someone wants to spend $1000, let them spend $1000 … most people already know their limit anyway.”
“Most people I know say ‘I’ll spend fifty bucks and that’s it’ … it’s unfair [to introduce pre-commitment measures] just because there’s a handful of troubled gamblers.”
The latest Herald/Nielsen poll shows that support for mandatory pre-commitment technology has fallen from 66 per cent in April to 52 per cent this week, however it will be up to Julia Gillard to make the final decision on the reforms.
Whether pre-commitment strategies will actually curb losses or not is a gamble Gillard will have to take.
Delani's Blog 