Stirling Griff (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on the scourge of poker machines and the drive by my colleague, Nick Xenophon, to even up the playing field and curtail the significant social harm that poker machines inflict on our communities. In the mid-1990s Nick was well aware of the adverse effects that pokies were having on individuals, their families and, in turn, their communities. He was determined to do something about the issue and subsequently stood for the South Australian Legislative Council on a 'no pokies' ticket. Nick won a seat, and from that point on has been South Australia's strongest advocate against predatory gambling. As more and more families contacted Nick for gambling support, he became more determined to effect legislative change. However, at every corner he was thwarted, with both major parties in SA playing down the impact of poker machines and the need for significant reform. Why? Because governments of all persuasions were growing more and more addicted themselves to the billions of dollars that they were reaping from gambling taxes.

In the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, politically it felt that something was about to change. It was as though we had reached a tipping point and perhaps, for the first time, there was a sense that the impacts of poker machines were finally being recognised by our national politicians. The then leader of the Labor Party, Kevin Rudd, intimated as much when he stated that he hated poker machines and knew something of their severe impacts on families. Not wanting to lose momentum, Nick resigned from state parliament and put his hat in the ring for a Senate seat, running again on a no pokies platform. Since being elected to the Senate, Nick has worked hard to make sure that problem gambling and poker machine reforms are at the top of the national agenda. Australians care about this issue and they want to see change.

Making up over $12 billion of Australia's gambling turnover in clubs and pubs alone, poker machines have, quite rightly, been called the crystal meth of gambling. It is an industry that preys on the vulnerable and is a major driver of household debt and family and personal dysfunction. According to the Productivity Commission, around 600,000 Australian adults play poker machines on a weekly basis or even more frequently. Just under 100,000 Australians are considered to be problem gamblers and up to 350,000 Australians experience risks that may make them vulnerable to problem gambling. That is 450,000 Australians and their families that government are potentially failing.

According to the 2014-2015 Australian Gambling Statistics figures, Australians are now pumping around $135 billion annually into poker machines and directly losing a whopping $12 billion. In New South Wales it is over $5.7 billion in losses; in Victoria, $2.5 billion; in Queensland, $2.1 billion; in South Australia, $725 million and around $250 million in the ACT and Northern Territory combined. That is $12 billion not going towards mortgages, food on tables or family welfare.

So who are the winners? The pokie barons and clubs and particularly government. State and territory governments have the highest addiction of them all. Government revenue from poker machines is now sitting at a whopping $5 billion, which, perhaps coincidentally, happens to be the social cost of gambling according to the Productivity Commission. This is an extraordinary figure and one that we must no longer ignore. But the reality is that the longer our governments continue to rely on the billions of dollars that flow into their coffers each year, the longer the poker machine industry will thrive, at great cost to our communities.

Fortunately, the momentum for effective change is starting to gather pace. Just last month, law firm Maurice Blackburn confirmed it was representing Ms Shonica Guy—a fellow South Australian—in her legal action against Crown Casino and Aristocrat Technologies Australia, who manufacture the Dolphin Treasure poker machine. Dolphin Treasure was Ms Guy's machine of choice during her 14-year addiction, which sadly started at the age of 17. Maurice Blackburn principal Jacob Varghese said the case was the first of its kind to focus on poker machine design, which they believe is contributing to players being deliberately deceived on their prospects of winning.

Their case centres on allegations that the Dolphin Treasure machine misrepresents the true chances of winning due to deliberate design features in the machine's reels and symbols. The first issue is the size of the reels within the machine. As explained by Mr Varghese, each machine contains five reels covered in symbols. In a fair machine, symbols should be evenly distributed across the reels so each symbol occurs the same number of times on each of the reels. In the Dolphin Treasure machine, four of the reels are of equal size with 30 symbols on each reel, but the fifth reel is larger with 44 symbols. That means that it is much harder to win the big prize symbols on the last reel than on the others. No matter how many jackpot symbols you get on the first four reels, the big fifth reel keeps the odds stacked in favour of the house.

The second issue is that the Dolphin Treasure machine symbols are not evenly distributed across the five reels, so the symbols do not occur the same number of times on each of the five reels. The effect on players is that they see these symbols coming up constantly, but they do not know that their real odds are determined by the reel with the lowest number of the given symbol. Maurice Blackburn also claim to have found the machine was designed to deceive players by having multiple winning symbols on most wheels and only one winning symbol on one of them.

The third issue with the machine relates to the information provided to players on the display screens and industry claims about the amount of money it returns to players. Across Australian jurisdictions, return-to-player rates are prescribed at between 85 per cent and 90 per cent. According to Mr Varghese, the official information on the Dolphin Treasure machine in Victoria states that the total theoretical return to the player is 87.8 per cent, giving the impression that the player will retain 87.8 per cent of the amount they bet while risking the loss of 12.2 per cent of the amount they bet. This, again, is misleading because the return to player is just an average on any given spin. If you play multiple games, as the machines encourage players to do, the return to the player often ends up approaching zero.

It is also important to note that Ms Guy is not claiming compensation for the tens of thousands of dollars that she gambled over her 14-year addiction to poker machines. Instead, what she is seeking is restraints against these sorts of deceitful practices. She wants to make sure that other people are not subjected to the same deceitful practices. I doubt there is a single one of us in this chamber who does not know someone who has been impacted either directly or indirectly by poker machines. While on a personal level many of us are happy to share our views on poker machines, far fewer of us have been willing to rise to the challenge and tackle this issue head on through necessary legislative reforms.

I strongly believe it is only a matter of time before we no longer accept our state and territory governments feeding their gambling addiction at very much the expense of the very people they represent. I strongly believe it is only a matter of time before our communities demand more accountability and transparency from companies and other groups that have vested interests in poker machines. I believe it is only a matter of time before we come before this place to implement changes in line with the Productivity Commission's recommendations of $1 maximum bets and, perhaps, only a matter of time before we even see outright bans on poker machines. For as long as I am elected a member to represent the people of my home state of South Australia, I, together with my colleagues, will continue to push for these important changes.