NSW Greens MP and gambling spokesperson, Justin Field, is supporting calls for whistleblowers to get in touch with federal MPs who today kicked off a “Pokies-Leaks” campaign to encourage whistleblowers to report dishonest and illegal behavior in the poker machine industry.
Greens Senator, Larissa Wasters, Independent Senator, Nick Xenophon and Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, are launching the campaign today. The Senators are calling for confidential information, such as details of how machine design targets vulnerable players and undisclosed industry interaction with political parties, to be sent directly to them for release in Parliament.
NSW Greens MP Justin Field said, “The Pokie-Leaks campaign will shine a light on a murky industry that uses deceptive machine design to encourage people to continue to gamble and inevitably lose.
“NSW have the highest number of poker machines of any state in Australia - almost 10% of all machines in the world are right here in this state.
“The Government continues to suck in billions from gambling taxes, mostly from people who can least afford it and often from people who are addicted to poker machines.
“Of course the Government is going to frame gambling as a game, but when everything about these machines is designed to ensure the person gambling puts as much money through, as quickly as possible while the machine reacts as if almost every bet is a winner – that’s not a game, that’s exploitation.
“I hope the Pokie-Leaks campaign will bring this information out into the open so we can make better decisions about how to better regulate this damaging industry.
“It’s really disappointing that Clubs NSW has described the Pokie-Leaks campaign as a publicity stunt when NSW has the highest loss per person from poker machines.
“The gambling clubs in NSW should be ensuring we don’t have the deceptive machines in this state and doing more to assist people addicted to gambling. Starting by ensuring these deceptive machines aren’t in NSW Clubs would be a good start, Mr. Field said.
