Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The worst moment I ever had in my 10 years in the upper house of state parliament as the No Pokies MP was not in the chamber but when I went to visit a man whose wife of almost 30 years took her life because of her poker machine addiction. I sat down and spoke with him and he described how she was ravaged by this addiction. He showed me the suicide note, and there is no doubt in my mind, in this man’s mind or in their friends’ minds that but for that woman’s poker machine addiction she would be alive today. That is the most tragic manifestation of gambling addiction in this country. There are literally hundreds of thousands of Australians who are in some way materially worse off because of their addiction to poker machines or because of the addiction of a loved one. We know from the Productivity Commission that there were upwards of 250,000 Australians with an addiction because of poker machines back in 1999 and that each of them affects the lives of at least seven others.

These three bills were a genuine attempt to bring about some real reform from the damage caused by poker machines in this country. That damage has not been addressed, because state governments are hopelessly addicted to the almost $4 billion a year they rake in from poker machine taxes—state governments that tinker around the edges and participate in window-dressing; state governments that are beholden to that obscenely overpaid tax collector, namely the poker machine industry. I heard that Clubs Australia was proposing measures to look after problem gamblers. Well, getting the gambling industry to look after problem gamblers is a bit like getting the wolf to look after Little Red Riding Hood. It is a deeply cynical industry.

The government’s position in relation to this report is to do nothing. It is to stall for another 12 months pending the outcome of a Productivity Commission inquiry. As useful as a Productivity Commission inquiry will be, there are some things that need to be done and ought to be done now. We know from the evidence, for instance, that there is a very clear link between the easy access to an ATM at a venue and the way it fuels gambling addiction, yet the government is prepared to sit on its hands for another 12 months in relation to this. We know that there are a number of measures that can be done immediately that will not impact on so-called recreational gamblers and that there can be a complete banning of banknote acceptors on poker machines. The introduction of smartcard technology could make a huge difference on the impact of poker machines, as could the immediate reduction of maximum bets and slowing down of machines. We have heard the evidence of Dr Charles Livingstone, who has undertaken extensive research, that you can do these things here and now and that the Commonwealth has the powers to do these things using its corporations and taxation powers and its banking and telecommunications powers. These are things that can and need to be done now, but the government is sitting on its hands and effectively stalling any real change on the agenda for another 12 months. Meanwhile, there are literally hundreds of thousands of Australians who are suffering and whose lives are being turned upside down because of this addiction to poker machines.

When you consider that this industry gets over 50 per cent of its income from addicted and problem gamblers, then this is an industry that is unsustainable in any sense because this industry survives off the backs of the vulnerable and the addicted. That is why the government’s position in relation to this report and in relation to the clear evidence that has been heard is more than a disappointment—it actually ignores and I believe treats with contempt the evidence and the hundreds of thousands of Australians who have been devastated by poker machines. That is why it is important that that we act and act with some considerable urgency, otherwise we will continue to hear more stories of hardship and tragedy because of the addiction of so many Australians to poker machines.