Treasurer Matt Kean has described the NSW opposition's proposed poker machine reforms as a policy "written by the gaming industry", as the major parties exchange fire over the bubbling election issue.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Labor announced its position on Monday, including a 12-month trial of cashless gaming cards, the removal of signs outside gaming venues and new self-exclusion registers.
Party leader Chris Minns has held off on matching Premier Dominic Perrottet's plan to introduce cashless gaming on all pokies, saying he wants evidence the cards are effective.
"The gaming industry will be popping the champagne corks after reading Chris Minns' policy," Mr Kean told reporters on Tuesday.
"This is a gaming policy written by the gaming industry for the gaming industry.
"We have committed to cashless gaming across NSW," Mr Kean added.
"All Chris Minns is committed to is rolling out a trial that was already underway."
Mr Minns hit back, saying the government had not actually released its policy and had offered little detail on its intended reforms.
This was despite a recent NSW Crime Commission report, which recommended cashless gaming and found that billions in ill-gained cash was being funnelled through the machines every year.
"It's been 13 weeks since the Crime Commission report has been handed down," Mr Minns said.
"There's no actual policy that's been released. We're currently at the point where Labor has a comprehensive plan, we've released it to the NSW public.
"We're still waiting for Mr Perrottet to land it within his cabinet or even to give a semblance of an idea about what initiatives he's going to pursue."
Mr Kean said the government would offer more detail on cashless gaming, including the possibility of introducing daily spend limits on pokies, at a later date.
Independent for Kogarah, whistleblower and former Clubs NSW employee Troy Stolz, who is looking to unseat Mr Minns at the upcoming state election, also dismissed Labor's policy as kowtowing to the industry.
"(Mr) Minns' proposal is akin to sprinkling a handful of salt into the Pacific Ocean," he said.
"It will make no genuine difference at all beyond cementing him the ongoing support of pubs and clubs."
Cashless gaming has only been introduced in one other jurisdiction in the world, where there are also daily spending limits, Mr Minns said.
If Labor wins the March election, a trial of cashless gaming cards will begin in July across a limited number of venues, affecting about 500 poker machines, overseen by an independent panel.
Mr Minns says if evidence finds the cards are effective, cashless gaming will be implemented across the board.
"I said from the outset this is complicated policy area and we needed an evidenced-based approach to make sure any measures we introduced would work and wouldn't have any unintended consequences," he said.
Labor would also introduce cash feed-in limits of $500 on all new pokies from July 2023, down from the $5000 limit in place.
It would also ban political donations from clubs, effective immediately.
Australian Associated Press
