NSW voters anticipate gambling as major issue in coming election
New South Wales have expressed the issues they would like to see addressed in the coming elections in the state. Topping their list is gambling, affordable housing and environmental protection.
Gambling has become a major issue in NSW due to the recent tussle between the government and the gambling industry stemming from the proposed introduction of cashless gaming in the state. Meanwhile, the pokies capital of Australia also records the highest player loss in the country and an alarming number of gambling addicts and people exposed to gambling harm.
The alarming statistics has made NSW voters overwhelmingly back Premier Perrottet’s pokies reform policy. In a special poll conducted by the Sydney Morning Herald in December 2022, majority of the voters show that they have little to no faith in clubs dealing with problem gambling even as 62% of the polled voters expressed support for gambling reforms.
Now that the elections loom, voters in NSW, now mostly consisting of the under-40s, are on the lookout to see what issues will be addressed. For 27-year-old Lismore resident Marian Bailey, gambling is top of her list.
She commented: “I’m very concerned about the gambling that’s going on here and I would really like to see bipartisan support.”
