A senior minister from the Liberal Party in New South Wales (NSW) has spoken for the first time about how he was literally forced out of a powerful Australian gambling lobby group’s portfolio and has urged the competent authorities to initiate an investigation into the group’s influence over the local Government.
In an interview with Four Corners, Minister Victor Dominello shared that ClubsNSW – the trade group for the local gambling industry – has been pretty much the equivalent of “the gun lobby” in the US, confessing that poker machines, also known as pokies, were “the blind spot” of the Government, which was why they were so powerful.
Mr Dominello MP spoke to Four Corners as part of a probe into the power and influence of the not-for-profit organisation that lobbies in favour of the NSW gambling sector. Currently, ClubsNSW is linked to more than 1,000 registered clubs across the state, which own and operate more than 64,000 pokies collectively.
When asked whether he believed there should be a probe into the influence that the aforementioned gambling industry lobby group’s influence over local Governments, Mr Dominello who is stepping down from his role in the country’s politics, was affirmative and urged whoever wins the March election in New South Wales to act on the issue. According to him, an inquiry or some other examination of the sector’s influence should be initiated in order to make sure that Members of Parliament are not forced into acting in a certain way as a result of the sector’s power and not by their own beliefs.
Proposed Cashless Gambling Card Faces Fierce Opposition by ClubsNSW
No matter how powerful New South Wales’ gambling industry is and how many times it has managed to defeat previous lawmakers’ attempts for gambling reform, it is now set to face its most serious challenge to its influence in the state, with the NSW election just around the corner.
As already reported by Casino Guardian, the proposed introduction of mandatory cashless gambling cards for controversial pokies has been among the major election issues recently discussed in New South Wales.
According to anti-gambling campaigners, who have been seeking more serious sanctions for the local gambling sector, including the fate of the poker machines, the outcome of the March election could determine the fate of the proposed gambling reform on a national level, and even internationally. According to Jim Wackett from Wesley Mission, if local lawmakers are able to address the issue of the proposed poker machine reform, which is not only important for New South Wales but for other states, such as Victoria and Queensland, that would be a great victory not only on a national level but on an international level, as well.
Victor Dominello was the NSW minister responsible for the NSW gambling policy at the time he unveiled the introduction of a mandatory cashless gambling card for all pokies in the state back in 2020. The much-criticised reform, under which all poker machine players would be forced to preliminary decide how much money they were ready to lose, was aimed at addressing rising levels of gambling addiction.
As Casino Guardian previously revealed, the proposed reform faced fierce opposition from ClubsNSW, with the industry trade body having claimed that the restrictions would have a devastating impact on local clubs, as they could reduce their revenue by up to 30%, and could cost 9,000 jobs.
- Author
Daniel Williams
