The New South Wales government has reneged on a plan to remove 9,500 poker machines, representing around 10% of the total, from licensed venues across the state, claiming that the considerable money required to do so would be better spent on harm minimization measures.
The plan had been one of the government’s pre-election pledges in 2024, but The Guardianreports that the poker machine policy had now changed following a cost-benefit analysis. The machines were to have been gradually removed by a combination of government buybacks and a forfeiture model.
Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, NSW Gaming Minister David Harris said, “You make those commitments before an election, then you actually get in and do the work and … what we found is it is not the number of machines that’s the issue. It’s the intensity of play.
“The state could pay AU$60 million (US$38 million) to remove those machines and it would make no difference other than AU$60 million coming out of a budget when it could have been spent on harm minimization.
“The idea of reducing machines sounds very attractive, but when the evidence shows us that it would make no material difference, do you think we should go and spend AU$60 million on something that doesn’t make a difference?”
According to The Guardian, Harris stated that the government has revised its policy after listening to advice from an independent panel on gambling policy. The panel comprises representatives from industry lobby groups like Clubs NSW, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA), Gaming Technologies Australia and Leagues Clubs Australia, plus the trustee of the Responsible Gambling Fund, NSW Council of Social Service, Wesley Mission, the United Workers Union, two academics and one person with “lived experience”.
It was this panel that said in a report that the cost of removing 9,500 machines was estimated at AU$60 million and was “not likely to impact gaming machine numbers in a significant way”.
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