Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It's less than three weeks until the Tasmanian election, and the merchants of misery in the pokies sector are trying hard and spending hard to protect the money they are leeching from Tasmanian families, Tasmanian communities and Tasmanian small businesses. Here's a bit of Tasmanian history: since the Labor Party allowed the Federal Group to build the Wrest Point Casino in Tasmania and later handed them a monopoly licence for the state's poker machines in pubs and clubs, we have seen this mutually beneficial relationship deliver the Federal Group and the Farrell family hundreds of millions of dollars. Of course, in return, they funded Labor's election campaigns with tens of thousands of dollars in political donations. If you want a definition of 'corruption' you don't have to look much further.

While Labor has finally and belatedly called time on their relationship with the Federal Group, there are signs going up in the pokies bars around Tasmania right now that basically declare how the Federal Group has bought the Liberal Party lock, stock and barrel. Make no mistake: under the pokies policy the Liberal Party are taking to the Tasmanian election, the Federal Group stand to reap an incredible $75 million windfall—money sucked off the tables of gambling addicts, away from the school levies, away from the power bills, away from the food on the tables, and into the pockets of one of Australia's richest families.

The Federal Group also have questions to answer about their relationship with Michael Kent, the Jacqui Lambie Network candidate, probably one of the most transactional politicians ever seen in Tasmania—believe me, that is really, really saying something. Mr Kent is a strong supporter of poker machines and recently defied reality by denying the existence of pokies addiction in regional Tasmania. The people of Lyons should know that a vote for Michael Kent is a vote for the Federal Group, it's actually a vote for the Liberal Party and it's a vote to lock in pokies harm and misery in Tasmania.

The question is: how much money are the Liberal Party going to get in dodgy donations from the Federal Group in compensation to encourage them to hand over this $75 million windfall? The tragic answer, of course, is that we just don't know. We don't know how much Senator Abetz was paid for getting up in here recently and singing for his supper, as he did earlier in this debate. We don't know how much the Tasmanian Liberals are getting paid—