Motions

Electronic Gaming Machines

The Hon. C. BONAROS (17:09): I move:

That the Social Development Committee inquire into and report on the effects of electronic gaming machines in South Australia, 25 years since their introduction, with particular reference to—

1. The participation profile of electronic gaming machines gambling, including problem gamblers and those at risk of problem gambling;

2. The economic impacts of the electronic gaming machines industry in South Australia, including industry size, growth, employment, organisation and interrelationships with other industries such as tourism, leisure, other entertainment and retailing;

3. The social impacts of the electronic gaming machines industry in South Australia, the incidence of gambling addiction, the cost and nature of welfare support services of government and non-government organisations necessary to address it;

4. The extent, resourcing and impact of harm minimisation advocacy from community groups on electronic gaming machines regulation;

5. The contribution of electronic gaming machines gambling revenue on community development activity and employment;

6. The effects of the regulatory structures governing the electronic gaming machines industry;

7. The impact of electronic gaming machines gambling on the state budget;

8. The impact that the introduction of harm minimisation measures, including Gaming Care and Club Safe, has had at gambling venues that feature electronic gaming machines on the prevalence of problem gambling and on those at risk;

9. The effectiveness and success of these harm minimisation measures;

10. The new technologies and opportunities to reduce gambling harm; and

11. Any related matters.

Next month marks the 25^th anniversary since the introduction of poker machines in pubs and clubs in South Australia. Despite numerous recommendations by the commonwealth Productivity Commission and other inquiries, there have been no meaningful reforms in terms of harm minimisation. That is why I am moving this motion that the Social Development Committee inquire into and report on the wideranging effects of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in SA since their introduction.

As I have already highlighted, the inquiry will have particular reference to the prevalence of gambling addiction, economic and social impacts of the EGM industry in South Australia, the effectiveness of the regulatory structure and harm minimisation measures, self-regulation of venues and training by Gaming Care and Club Safe, new technologies and opportunities to reduce gambling harm, and we will look at the resourcing and impact of harm minimisation advocacy for community groups.

Never before, as I understand it, has this parliament conducted an inquiry as wideranging as this, but in my view there is a lot of work that needs to be done fighting the scourge of all forms of gambling addiction, but particularly poker machine addiction. I personally have seen too many times—more times than I care to recall—the insidious impacts poker machine gambling addictions can have, not just with addicts themselves but also, of course, with their loved ones.

Like other addictions, gambling addictions cost people their lives—desperate souls who saw no other way out of their personal predicament than to take their own lives. I remind both the government and the opposition that Australians lost nearly $24 billion in gambling in 2016-17, with poker machines continuing to outstrip all other forms of gambling, with a whopping $12.136 billion emptied into ravenous poker machines by Australians over the same period.

It is no surprise that poker machines continue to be described as the crystal meth of gambling. Here are some sobering—some might say sickening—facts to back that up:

Australia has 20 per cent of the world's poker machines, yet only 0.3 per cent of the world's population;

Australians lose more at gambling than any other nation, with $1,000 in per capita losses, mostly because of the prevalence and ferocious hunger of poker machines;

poker machines are in the majority of the state's pubs and clubs, housed in 511 venues in SA, with a staggering 12,210 machines still taking money from South Australians;

as of June 2017, there was an average of nine poker machines per 1,000 South Australian adults;

poker machines are concentrated, as we know, in our most disadvantaged areas, with South Australians losing some $680 million over 2016-17.

From the Productivity Commission's report into gambling, we know that at least 15 per cent—and that is a very conservative figure—of regular poker machine players are so-called problem gamblers. It is these gambling addicts that provide the lion's share of profits to poker machine barons. The Productivity Commission has also estimated that around 40 to 60 per cent of spending on poker machines comes from problem gamblers. I reiterate again for the record that these are extremely conservative estimates that are now close to a decade old.

It is timely that the looming anniversary of the introduction of poker machines in pubs and clubs in SA, on 25 July 1994, acts as a reminder of what the introduction of poker machines has really cost this state and acts as the catalyst for this inquiry. With those words, I once again seek leave to conclude my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.