Tasmania’s welfare groups will continue to push for a ban on poker machines in pubs and clubs when a parliamentary inquiry into Tasmania’s gaming industry resumes this week.
The state government last year directed an inquiry be established to look at the gaming industry in the state once Federal Hotel’s exclusive deed on poker machine licenses expires in 2023.
The committee plans to have its final report tabled in Parliament by the end of September. Social and welfare advocates have recognized this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have poker machines confined to casinos. (READ SO: AUSTRALIAN POKER SAVED BY THE SENATE)
Poker machine proponents, however, have argued that doing so will cost the state much-needed revenue, jobs in regional areas, and simply push gamblers towards other forms of betting, like online gaming.
