Latham slams NSW Government’s cashless pokies reforms

One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham has slammed the state government’s proposed cashless gaming reforms as “ludicrous”, saying the policy alterations would do nothing to stop troubled gamblers.

The changes were heralded by the government as some of “the biggest gambling reforms ever undertaken in Australia, stopping money laundering while protecting people”.

“Cashless gaming will include a number of features to curb problem gambling, including mandatory self-imposed limits and cooling-off periods, breaks in play, prohibiting the transfer of funds from credit cards and prohibiting automatic top-ups,” the NSW Government said in a media release last month.

It also announced the package would provide support for pubs and clubs financially affected in the transition to cashless gaming, ensuring the backing of community organisations.

But Latham was highly critical of the proposal, saying it would do little to nothing for troubled gamblers.

“The only way you can identify and help problem gamblers is by working with the clubs,” he told BettingSite.com.au.

“They’ve got a ludicrous situation now where there’s a gaming limit, but the problem gambler can set his own limit.

“So that doesn’t seem to make any sense.

“And if he hits the limit playing the pokies, you walk 30 metres over to the TAB and you can start again.”

Latham said the NSW Government should be focusing on providing better education and training to staff members at pubs and clubs across the state to curb the habits of excessive gamblers.

He believes they should be the ones working closely with those losing large sums of money, instead of the gamblers being allowed to set their own limits.

“The only people who can identify him (a troubled gambler) and say ‘this guy needs counselling – we need to divert him into those programs’ are the people inside the club,” he said.

“So the Perrottet government declaring war on the clubs is completely counterproductive.

“You’ve got to work with them to get the best result.”

READ: NSW Labor reveals gambling reform plans ahead of election

Latham said the proposed gambling reform was yet another case of a government dictating the way its people should live their lives.

He said NSW’s Net Zero Plan – the goal to reach zero emissions by 2050 – was similar because it will lead to thousands of people losing jobs and the state economy taking a massive collective hit due to such large-scale changes to livelihoods.

“The Liberal party’s gone to the left with (Treasurer) Matt Kean and … (the impact on) community clubs,” he said.

“And the Nationals have gone to the left – they’re rolling over on Net Zero and policies like that which have been job destroyers in the bush.

“So One Nation NSW is one of the few parties left that stands in the mainstream, and for the things that have always worked well in Australia.

“We’ve had some things that have worked really well in this country – why are we getting rid of them?”

Latham is worried the trend of tight government regulation might only get worse regardless of whether the Liberal-Nationals or Labor personnel hold the majority after the March 25 election.

“The left talks about diversity, but really they want us to have a life just like their miserable existence,” he said.

“And most people don’t want to do that, so we’ve got to resist and fight and make sure we stand up for good Australian values.

“One of those is people should be allowed to live their lives without too much government interference.

“That’s what it comes down to – governments wanting to run our lives, whether that’s greyhounds or community clubs or energy policies.

“Government has a role, but not to the point where they’re running your life day-in and day-out.

“So that’s what we’re fighting about.”

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