[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Labor Must Act On Gambling Study_K Booth MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

GOVERNMENT IN CRISIS NEGLECTS GAMBLING STUDY

Where Is Labor's Action On Pokie Impact?

Kim Booth MP
Greens Shadow Gaming spokesperson

Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today put the State Labor government on notice that
action must come from the recently released social and economic impact
study into gambling in Tasmania, which Labor delayed undertaking for
years, and which has been produced without any commitment from the
Bartlett government that they will do anything about the findings of the
report.

Greens Shadow spokesperson for Gaming Kim Booth MP raised in State
Parliament the impacts of pokies on the Tasmanian community which was
confirmed by the report and called on Labor not just to begin the staged
withdrawal of pokies from pubs and clubs where they have the greatest
impact, but also to quantify the real losses to the wider Tasmanian
economy from pokies.

"What this impact study has confirmed is that pokies, above all other
forms of gambling, have the biggest impact on Tasmanians and yet this
Labor government, which has been addicted to pokie revenue for over a
decade, sits impassive in the face of this growing social crisis," Mr
Booth said.

"The report shows that there is a significant link between pokies and
some crimes and if that was not enough they are reaping the greatest
profits from the pockets of the most disadvantaged Tasmanians; what is
it going to take to get Labor to face the responsibility that they hold
for the part they have played in promoting gambling in Tasmania?"

"Premier Bartlett claims to be guided by evidenced base policy and data
and yet critically no multiplier effect appears to have been calculated
in this report to ascertain the loss of income to the local economy from
money being removed from circulation and lost on poker machines."

"Premier Bartlett's credibility is on the line here, as a 'clever' and
'kind' government would have taken immediate action on this report and
that is what the Greens are calling for and will continue to call for
until this government acts on this pressing social and economic issue."

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Attached: Notice of Motion  from Kim Booth MP 19 AUGUST 2008
That this House - notes with serious concern the findings from the long
awaited social and economic impact study into gambling in Tasmania which
included;
That Electronic Gaming Machines, or pokies, in Hotels and Clubs were the
highest contributor to total gambling expenditure;
Confirmation that pokies placed in disadvantaged areas earn higher per
capita returns while revenue per machine decreases as the level of
disadvantage declines;
That when examining the relationship between gaming expenditure and
crime, a "positive and significant relationship was found between gaming
expenditure and some crime rates". [i]
Further, however,
That this House - notes that no multiplier effect appears to have been
calculated to ascertain the loss of income to the local economy from
money being removed from circulation and lost on poker machines and,
1) Calls on the Bartlett Labor government to come clean with the
Tasmanian community and quantify just how much pokies are costing the
Tasmanian economy and;
2) Calls on the Bartlett government to match words with actions and
begin the staged withdrawal of pokies from pubs and clubs in Tasmania.
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[i] SACES, Social and Economic Impact Study into Gambling in Tasmania,
June 2008, Volume 1; page (ix)



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