Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Tasmania prepares to vote to remove poker machines from hotels and clubs, it is disgusting to see the blatant lies the poker machine industry is peddling—for instance, the lie that jobs will be lost, the lie that these are loveable little businesses, the lie that people will switch to online gambling, the lie that the state relies on the tax revenue from poker machines and the lie that gambling addiction isn't a problem. The fact is that $1 million spent on gambling creates three jobs, but spent on drinks and food it creates up to 20.

The fact is that poker machines are big business, raking in millions of dollars a year, like at the Elwick Hotel in my electorate, where each machine harvests nearly $150,000 annually. The fact is that experience elsewhere proves that poker machine addicts don't switch to online gambling when access to the machines is restricted; the fact is that gambling addiction costs Tasmania about three times the poker machine tax collected; and the fact is that gambling addiction in the state is going up, not down. This is an industry that preys on vulnerable people and is built on lies. It's all bad, and the worst offenders are the big poker machine barons like Federal Group and Woolworths. They should be ashamed of themselves, and this election is a chance for Tasmania to put them in their place.