Advocates for a mandatory cashless pokies card system argue a new report contradicts the Tasmanian government’s claim that the system would be too expensive and complex. They say the government only dropped the card system due to pressure from the gaming lobby. The government has rejected those claims and maintains it’s committed to reducing harmful gambling.
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00:00When the Tasmanian government hit pause on its nation-leading mandatory cashless pokies
00:07card, it pointed to MaxGaming's delivery plan report, saying it revealed a likely cost
00:14increase, implementation delays and showed the proposed system would be too complex.
00:20Given we're a small state, a practical way forward is to work with other states on a
00:26pre-commitment solution.
00:29Now the Greens have obtained the report under right to information laws.
00:34There is nothing in this report that gives them any excuse to walk away from it.
00:39What has happened is that Pokies Lobby have got what they wanted.
00:43The report provides a roadmap outlining how the card-based system would work.
00:48It doesn't contain any conclusions about the system's complexity and seems to suggest the
00:54rollout timeline was tight but possible.
00:58The report points to a lack of feasibility for the implementation of the card, but also
01:04that it is cost prohibitive in a jurisdiction like Tasmania to be the lead on a complex
01:09piece like that.
01:11Those costs are redacted.
01:13There appears to be some increase from initial estimates, but it's unclear how much.
01:19The government has refused to release the figures, saying they're commercial in confidence.
01:25How much has he decided is too much to pay to protect Tasmanians from gambling harm,
01:30the nation-leading reforms that he promised.
01:33The Greens argue the powerful Tasmanian Hospitality Association pressured the government to drop
01:39the card-based scheme, which the THA hasn't denied.
01:44As industry, we believe that the card is too complex and too hard to be implemented and
01:48would cause more harm than it will do good.
01:51The government says it will introduce other poker machine harm reduction initiatives.