UPDATED: The new pokie laws: good idea/bad idea?

Last weekend, in an effort to escape the loud music that was drowning the conversation I was having with a friend, I found myself in a room full of poker machines at an inner city pub.

There was only one other person in the room. A man, probably in his mid thirties “playing” the pokies.

In the 15 minutes I spent there, I watched him joylessly slot around $300 into the machine. I also watched that $300 disappear.

I asked him why he played the pokies. And more specifically, why did he play so hard?

‘It’s my right,’ he told me defensively. ‘I’ve worked hard this week and this is my way of switching off. Other people go to the movies, I play the pokies.’

Standing in an airless room feeding money to a machine that gave him nothing in return? What part of that is “fun” exactly?

It’s certainly no fun for Julia Gillard who is about to be jammed between competing interest groups as the government introduces pokie law reform designed to reduce the losses of problem gamblers. And the devastating impact on their families.

Cue: shitfight. Not everyone is supporting the measures (are you shocked?) and those who rely on the income generated by poker machines (pubs and footy clubs) are screaming the loudest. They say the changes will be ineffective and will damage their businesses.

In case you’ve glazed over what’s been said (or haven’t understood what’s going on) here’s a cheatsheet on what the Federal Government want to do, who opposes it and why:

Q: So, what are the changes?

75 percent of people with serious gambling problems use pokies, so this is where the government is focusing its attention.

It wants to introduce a pre-commitment technology system so people wanting to ‘play’ the pokies will have to set their limits – as high or low as they like – before they start.

Did you know that it’s possible for people to spend $1500 an hour on poker machines? If the reforms go ahead, machines will flash messages about the risk of gambling and tell players how much they’re spending on average each hour. (Confronting, yes. That’s the point.) ATMs in pubs and clubs will also have a maximum daily withdrawal limit of $250. Right now, there is no limit. You can keep withdrawing until all your money – or credit – is gone.

The government wants to implement the new technology by 2014. Small clubs with less than 15 machines will be exempt until 2018.

Q: Is it a voluntary system?

A: No. Well, sort of. It’s just regular players that would need to register for a card, similar to how people register as members with clubs. If you only play occasionally, you’d be able to use the machines the same way you do now. The pre-commitment system will apply for high-intensity machines (like the ones that allow players to lose upwards of $1200 an hour) and not for users wanting to play lower-intensity machines.

The government says the system will not require invasive personal data collection.

Q: Who are the major players in this debate and what are they saying?

A: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie’s part in this is interesting – and CRUCIAL. He is the person behind the push and the pre-commitment technology scheme was part of his agreement to support Gillard’s minority government. So in other words, the government’s ability to run the country is under threat if the changes don’t go ahead.

Collingwood Football club president Eddie McGuire has emotively labeled the reforms a “footy tax” that will “hit football clubs right between the eyes”. Pokies generate around $30 million for AFL clubs every year (and that’s just Victorian clubs) and Mr McGuire says clubs will suffer if the changes go ahead. Hmmm….

Andrew Wilkie hit back, saying McGuire was showing a “breath-taking lack of leadership and should know better” describing his use of the term ‘footy tax’ as “dishonest, mischievous and misleading.” “It is not in the public interest and it is not the sort of behaviour we need from a leadership figure in the community and from the AFL,” he said.

Contrary to McGuire’s remarks, AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has refused to throw his support behind an NRL and Clubs Australia campaign against the Labor’s poker machine reform. Mr Demetriou has labeled Club’s Australia chief Anthony Ball as a “hillbilly” and told him to “shut up” in an ABC interview and denied suggestions the AFL has planned its own campaign against the government’s proposed changes.

Federal Minister for Families and Community Services Jenny Macklin said ”we want to provide some help to those people who are addicted to poker machines”. She said that footy clubs, like the government, have a “duty of care” to help vulnerable problem gamblers.

You’ll be SHOCKED to hear that pubs, clubs and casinos do not support the changes and have launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign named “Won’t Work, Will Hurt” in response to the proposal. The ads tell viewers that pre-commitment technology “won’t work because problem gamblers will be the first to get a licence. Because problem gamblers will be able to set their own limits as high as they like”

More information on the initiatives is available here. If you think you or someone in your family has a gambling problem you can access help here.

What do you think? Will the technology reduce the instances of problem gambling? Or are there other ways to solve the problem? Has your life been touched by gambling addiction?