Page 1216 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 2013
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indicated in subclause 2A(b) and (c). I note that Ms Burch’s amendment will eliminate the just mentioned subclauses, and further consultation with the clubs sector has found this reasonable.
This is typical of Greens initiatives. They have a habit of making it harder for business to do business, and in this context the extraordinary regulation-making powers can have the potential to make the operating environment uncertain for our local clubs. So, if the amendment goes forward, we will support the bill.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.12), in reply: In closing, I would like to thank members for their contributions, as brief as they were, to the debate and for their support for the bill. The bill is important for a number of reasons. It deals with a particularly harmful addition to an already harmful product. The harms caused by poker machines are well documented. They cause not only enormous financial hardship but also family breakdowns, property crime and a range of other issues that affect people.
In order to prevent these harms from being even worse, the bill ensures that machines with audio isolation devices will never operate in the ACT. These devices are designed to isolate gamblers from the rest of the world and keep them losing money into the machines. Preventing the use of these devices is a good outcome. Additionally, it is also an important signal that the ACT will respond to changes in technology and prevent more harmful machines from being able to operate in the territory.
As everyone knows, the Greens are committed to tackling problem gambling in our community and the extensive harms caused by gaming machines. There is certainly much more that needs to be done. I recognise that in the scheme of things, while this is an important step, it is also a modest step. It is a positive change that will help prevent the current problems that we face from getting even worse.
Common sense says that plugging people into poker machines to further isolate them from reality and keep them gambling is not acceptable and not consistent with the community’s expectations of what is and is not okay. Poker machines are addictive and the major source of problem gambling here in the territory. The risk that they could become even more harmful is something that the Assembly needed to address and I am pleased that we have responded to that risk. I think it demonstrates just how destructive these devices are that even Clubs ACT have indicated their support for that element of the bill.
The reform is modelled on the changes that have been implemented in recent times in both Victoria and New South Wales. Currently, the commissioner in the ACT has an obligation to consider the harm minimisation impacts of any new machines for which an approval is requested and this bill simply clarifies that these devices can never be approved.
Of course, while it will prevent things from getting worse, it will not tackle the current problems that we already face. It is unfortunate that this place has been reluctant to deliver more far-reaching changes that will have an impact on the problems that we already face, as well as steps to help prevent it from getting even worse.
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