I joined harm minimisation experts and advocates to welcome the government’s commitment to make all poker machines cashless by 2028.

Cashless gaming is the only way to stop people developing gambling problems and criminals laundering money in clubs and pubs. About $95 billion is spent in poker machines in pubs and clubs every year and New South Wales has more poker machines than anywhere else in the world outside of Las Vegas. In 2010 the Productivity Commission estimated that problem and at-risk gamblers make up 75 percent of poker machine spending while the NSW Crime Commission found that “billions” comes from the proceeds of crime. The current approach is causing serious harm and we need a system that enables gamblers to control their spending and prevents criminals washing dirty cash through machines.

There has been a groundswell of community momentum on this issue and I encourage the opposition to match the reforms so that New South Wales can unshackle the gaming industry’s influence on gambling policy and stop the shocking harm.