Pokies shame on full show as curtain lifts On theatre of parliament

Pat Caplice details the failure of our compromised two-party political system to protect the most vulnerable Tasmanians

ON a rainy Thursday at appeal in Hobart’s Supreme Court a woman came to the end of her legal journey (Mercury, October 15).

Her initial three-year punishment, with six months to be served in jail, was lifted to four years, with 18 months.

Over 10 months she had embezzled $420,000. Most of which she then lost to pokies.

That same day, across the road at Parliament House, our elected representatives voted on the future of pokies harm reduction and prevention.

The Gaming Bill is complex, and there will be further debate, but the community safety aspect is done and dusted. Much debate to come will focus on who gets what portion of the money that’s yet to be lost to pokies. Divvying up the $3.8 billion Tasmanians will lose over the 20-year term of this legislation. Even the crumbs of that pie are valuable.

I sat in our sandstone parliament where the MPs voted, next to three Salvos in the members guest area behind Clark independent Kristie Johnston. Our view of democracy in action was close and personal.

Thirteen Liberals, eight Labor caucus members, one Labor non-caucus member, two Greens and an independent voted on harm reduction measures.

An absent caucus Labor member drew a Liberal “pair”, the Speaker didn’t vote, leaving a vote tally of 22 rather than the full 25 member number. Each David O’Byrne vote, Labor’s non-caucus member, aligned with caucus.

It was parliament as theatre as our MPs arise from their padded seats, moving to the left of the comfortable room or to the right, as their vote dictates, to be counted.

There were many three against 19 vote divisions, where the two Greens and one independent gathered on one side of the chamber and the 19

Liberal and Labor MPs walked together to the other side.

Argument about harm minimisation and pokies industry interest has been raging since a 2015 David Walsh blog exposed then treasurer Peter Gutwein’s behind closed doors dealings with Federal Hotel boss Greg Farrell, as treasurer Gutwein, on St Patrick’s Day 2016, announced his party’s gaming policy in parliament.

A parliamentary joint select committee took evidence from addiction specialists, gaming machine experts, community and welfare groups, industry and economists, and reported its findings and recommendations.

Labor announced in August 2017 that it would take a “pokies out of pubs” policy to the 2018 election. Liberal treasurer Gutwein ditched his 2016 policy, using instead one based on a late joint THA/ Federal Hotels submission to the committee — a submission so late the committee was unable to examine it, and which provided far greater industry benefits than even the Liberal 2016 policy, which it ended up replacing.

On Boxing Day 2017 a tsunami of industry funded proLiberal and anti-Labor and Greens advertising was unleashed on Tasmanians. The Liberals, despite reducing it’s numbers, kept government after the March 2018 election. Labor, despite lifting its numbers, dumped its pokies policy.

The argument for reining in the harm of pokies has been well made for many years. Independent polling on pokies as a single issue shows 80 per cent of Tasmanians, across the political divide, want more effective harm reduction.

Industry fought hard to retain its lucrative operation, as evidenced by the weight of its financial contribution to the 2018 election campaign as well as it’s donations to Liberals and Labor.

Industry success was illustrated by Wednesday’s parliamentary theatre by the 19 to three voting pattern — the complete welding of the Liberal and Labor parties.

Community protection measures proposed, but opposed by industry, were discarded by the 19 — no $1 bets, no six-second spins, keeping losses disguised as wins and false near misses. Reducing operating hours from 20 to 12 a day is yet to be debated but, as it is opposed by industry, will likely be 19 to three again.

Some valuable crumbs have

fallen from the table (Crumbs approved by the THA as part of the public submission on their own draft legislation, and thus supported by the 19).

Tightening of excluded player control with face recognition technology is good policy. Cameras in venues will be upgraded and each patron’s face scanned on entry. That data is then instantly run past a central database with the venue notified of any excluded player matches. Those are then denied access to pokies.

This measure, plus the fact exclusions are able to be sought by others with an interest in troubled players — families or welfare agencies or police — could provide help for those who have already fallen off the addiction cliff.

The suggestion of a players card with mandatory precommitment levels is welcomed too. Though in itself it’s a poor replacement for the full suite of harm reduction measures proposed at this one-in-20-year opportunity. It will be subject to a report to land on the minister’s desk, for possible operation in 2025. How many times have reports landed on a minister’s desk only to be delivered to the bottom drawer not to be seen again? How often has “will begin in five years” stretched to the distant never never?

While this scheme is welcomed it exposes the expensive industry advertising in 2018 for what it was, spurious propaganda. How the worm has turned on their “freedom of choice” rhetoric. For such a card to be effective it needs 100 ID points for issue, must be attached to a bank account, must have a pre-committed amount that’s viable and not alterable, and must be operated by the Gaming Commission not industry.

Twenty years ago Premier Peter Gutwein wore a younger man’s clothes. He had just entered parliament as a Liberal MP. As that greenhorn politician, Mr Gutwein raged against the 2003 pokies deal:

“The circumstances that we find ourselves in at the moment are just incredible. I’m a new parliamentarian and I thought politics was about democracy but it’s not about democracy, it’s about stealth, secrecy, about a government not wanting to be transparent or accountable,” Mr Gutwein said. “I think this is absolutely outrageous. I will be 58 years of age before we get an opportunity to make changes to this once parliament signs off. There’s no transparency. Nobody knew what was being negotiated at all.

“It was a deed signed in secret, sat on for 30 days and then released to the Parliament of Tasmania as a done deal. I just think it is absolutely scandalous.”

The parliamentary theatre on Wednesday played vividly to my eyes. It was scandalous.

Each time the 19 Labor and Liberal MPs voted against harm minimisation, they failed the woman across the road appealing her sentence in the Supreme Court.

They failed the victim of her crime, Robbo, who has been destroyed by the pokies without ever touching one.

They failed themselves and they failed Tasmanian people.

Pat Caplice is convenor of Rein in The Pokies and a Local Party candidate for the Legislative Council seat of Huon.