Pokie punters flouting safe distancing rule

INDEPENDENT MP Andrew Wilkie has shared footage from a local venue claiming some poker machine users are flouting distancing laws and risking a second wave of coronavirus.

Mr Wilkie said he received the video evidence from a whistleblower on Friday.

The image and short video show four people sitting “shoulder to shoulder” at Carlyle Hotel poker machines in Derwent Park.

Mr Wilkie said the venue showed a “complete disregard” for safety requirements.

“They might be maximising their profits, but they’re putting the community at risk,” he said. “We’ve seen in Victoria just how delicate the situation is, and just how easy it is for success to turn into disaster.”

A spokesman from the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, which owns the Carlyle Hotel, said the organisation “meets the government requirements under the WorkSafe comprehensive COVID19 safety plan guidelines”.

The Gambling COVIDSafe Workplace Guidelines has stated customers playing electronic gaming machines may need to decrease below venue capacity to comply with 1.5m distancing.

Report recommendations include switching off every second EGM, preventing punters from sitting next to others and displaying “not in use” signage at adjacent machines.

The Member for Clark said he had heard other accounts of safety breaches at Tasmanian and interstate gambling venues.

A State Government spokesman said the images and reports were “very disappointing”.

The spokesman said inspectors and police would attend venues where complaints had been received in the coming weeks.

“Where noncompliances are identified, fines are likely to be issued,” he said.

Federal Group executive general manager Daniel Hanna said WorkSafe Tasmania had confirmed “appropriate COVID safety practices are in place” at Wrest Point and their other venues.