Plan panned

By Casey Neill
STATE Government moves to ban ATMs in pokies’ venues are ‘too little too late’, according to Ferntree Gully MP Nick Wakeling.
Mr Wakeling said the announcement on 13 March that ATMs would be banned from Victorian poker machine venues from 2012 was ‘no more than a media stunt’.
He said the move, an Australian first, was a back flip from statements made in Parliament by the Gaming Minister in November last year.
“The Government doesn’t seem to have a clear position in regard to gambling,” Mr Wakeling said.
“What are they going to be saying in May?”
Mr Wakeling said the minister told Parliament last year that the Government would not remove ATMs from gaming venues.
He said the change of heart was prompted by the announcement of a Federal Government fight on gambling addiction.
“It was ‘Rudd said something so we better say it as well’,” he said.
“Brumby has hung the Gaming Minister out to dry to fall in line with Kevin Rudd, showing the hypocrisy of their policy.”
Victoria will be become the first Australian state to ban ATMs from the floor of pokies venues when existing gaming licence arrangements end in four years’ time.
“To deal with a problem in 2008, they’re removing ATMs in 2012,” Mr Wakeling said.
“The Government could put measures in place now but they’re choosing not to.”
Mr Wakeling said the plan was ‘too little too late’, particularly for Knox residents.
“Areas like Knox could be facing more poker machines as part of the relocation of pokies,” he said.
He also criticised the Government for not having made a decision in regard to EFTPOS machines and the ban.
“The Government is not dealing with problem gambling,” he said.
Mr Wakeling said if the Liberal Party was in power, he would be sitting down with gaming industry heavyweights and making the Government’s priorities clear.
His comments mirrored that of opposition gaming spokesman Michael O’Brien.
“This measure will do nothing to deal with the state’s current problem gambling crisis,” Mr O’Brien said.
“If John Brumby was serious about this proposal he would implement it during the current Parliament without delay.”
Mr Brumby said Victoria had led the way in tackling problem gambling.
He highlighted the Government’s $132 million Taking Action on Problem Gambling strategy, the biggest problem gambling strategy in Australia.
Mr Brumby said the Government had introduced caps on gaming machines in 19 vulnerable communities, eliminated 24-hour gaming venues outside the casino and banned smoking in gaming machine areas, all since 1999.
“Ready access to cash in a gaming venues can be a contributor to problem gambling,” he said.
The State Government is expected to announce the full structure of its new gaming licence in coming weeks.
“The Government is continuing its deliberations on the gaming industry structure post 2012,” Mr Brumby said.
“There are a range of issues still to be finalised.”
Some pokies venues in country Victoria where there are few ATMs may be exempt from the ban.