[Greens-Media] Greens Gain Wins from Flawed Gambling Bill

[Franks, Office]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July  25, 2013

Greens Gain Wins From Flawed Gambling Bill

After a turbulent few days, the Statutes Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill has passed the Upper House, including several important wins for advocacy, harm minimisation and live music, the Greens' Gambling spokesperson Tammy Franks says.

"There are lost opportunities for gambling harm to have been addressed in this Bill that the Government refused to accept," Ms Franks said.

"For example the Greens remain convinced that a $1 maximum bet limit is needed to address problem gambling, a proposition supported by the Productivity Commission and strongly urged by SACOSS."

However, Ms Franks said doing away with gag clauses in Government contracts with advocacy groups was an important win.

"It was a situation where groups like Pokies Anonymous couldn't even pay their phone bill because their funding was conditional on them effectively being gagged," Ms Franks said.

"These organisations need to be able to advocate for their constituents; these are the consumer groups that work with problem gamblers and are best placed to provide these insights.

"This will help to even up a debate that has too often favoured the big end of town."

Another Greens' amendment to see an increase in funding for live music successfully passed the Upper House last night.

"This is a modest rise, but an important one for the live music industry, with an additional injection of $350,000 of pokies money per annum going to live music," she said.

Another Greens' amendment to ensure that audio equipment would not be introduced was also supported.
"This Bill was flawed from the start because the Government took its marching orders from SkyCity rather than through true consultation," Ms Franks continued.

"Had the Attorney sat down with all stakeholders at any stage over the past two years, he wouldn't have had to sit down with the Legislative Council members at 9am this morning."

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