The Victorian Government has been urged to push ahead with its commitment to poker machine reforms, despite push-back from casino lobbyists and the opposition.
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00:00This move to introduce mandatory card play on all poker machines in Victoria is facing
00:08a bit of a backlash from pubs and clubs as well as the state opposition.
00:13It would require gamblers to use a special card before playing poker machines and also
00:18preset the limit on just how much they'd be prepared to lose as well.
00:24And the opposition says that it doesn't have enough evidence to show that this would really
00:29minimise harm.
00:30It believes that problem gamblers would be among the first to go out and get one of these
00:35cards, but those casual gamblers would likely be turned away and that would really impact
00:43the bottom line and therefore jobs in pubs and clubs, particularly those close to the
00:48border.
00:49Now that's because other states have in the past tried to introduce legislation restricting
00:55poker machines, however these have eventually been watered down due to pressure from the
01:00powerful gaming lobby.
01:03And Crown Casino already has mandatory card play.
01:07That's following a damning Royal Commission finding and it says that it wants to see a
01:12level playing field with these cards introduced across all of the poker machines in Victoria.
01:19The legislation is going to be debated in Parliament this week and if it's passed we'll
01:24see a trial in about 40 venues across the state from the middle of the year and it will
01:29eventually be rolled out across all of the 26,000 poker machines in Victoria by the end
01:36of 2027.
01:38Now anti-gambling advocates say that they're concerned that they've heard news that this
01:44could be put on the back burner by the state government and it's urging the government
01:49to continue to push forward with this reform.
01:53It says that the harm that is caused by poker machines is immense and it creates huge losses.
02:01With losses from poker machine use, a staggering $4 billion for Victoria in the last financial
02:08year alone.