Glenorchy dubbed the 'slot machine capital' of Tasmania as mayor calls for gambling reform
We have what is colloquially known as the 'Golden Mile' and certainly two former mayors were strong advocates for dealing at the state government level with this issue. And we do have a statement of commitment on gambling, which only gives us the authority to advocate or partner and engage with our community organisations and service providers, because as a local government, we literally do not have any power to police any of this.
Kylie Baxter
Do you think that a pre-commitment card would be an effective way to address the harm in your town, mayor?
Sue Hickey
Well, I really like the suggestions put forward by Tim Costello. He's obviously all across this and I don't care what form of harm removal or harm measures that they use, whether it's cashless gaming, $1 bets, slower spin speeds, pre-commitment technology, something has to be done about it because, I think, we as a nation and as a state have to ask ourselves, what is the social and economic cost of not dealing with this issue? I personally know of the destruction of gambling to a friend of mine's life and livelihood and then the breakdown of the family and just horrendous outcomes from that. But over my life in politics, I've come across so many people who have been broken by their gaming addiction. So we need the government, whoever this is going to be, to invest in harm minimisation, urgently. And we've got to stop doing the talking, and we've got to do some action.
Kylie Baxter
The data tells us there are 240 pokey machines in Glenorchy. Would you like to see a reduction also in the number of machines available for use?
Sue Hickey
Absolutely. That's from a personal perspective. Obviously, other people would have different perspectives. If I had my way, there'd probably be none. But, you know, there are lots of people who can gamble safely. You know, Nana who goes there and spends $5 or $10 on a Sunday with her friends, obviously can handle it. But there are other people who might be in a pit in their lives of some sort, and it suddenly becomes an escape. And then next thing you know, it's an addiction, and then it's a tragedy. So this is where I think there needs to be some controls around the electronic gaming machines.
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