Senate debates

Friday, 24 March 2023

Statements by Senators

New South Wales State Election

1:47 pm

Photo of David ShoebridgeDavid Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

Tomorrow is the New South Wales state election, and there is a stark choice for voters on gambling reform. For too long, the gambling industry has been untouchable in New South Wales because of the political power of the clubs lobby. New South Wales and ACT Labor clubs themselves own around 600 pokies. In New South Wales, pokies will rake in about $8 billion in profit this year, stealing most of that from people in low-income areas. In the first half of last year, clubs sucked in over $190 million and hotels another $138 million in poker machine profits just from the Canterbury-Bankstown area. Imagine the economic harm that is doing to families there. We also know that poker machines are designed to launder billions of dollars of illegal funds from organised crime. They literally corrupt police and politics.

My state colleague Cate Fairman has been a powerful advocate for gambling reform. The Greens are committed to using the balance of power in the next parliament to impose a statewide cashless gaming card and a pokies tax that funds a poker machine reparations fund, designed to fix the harms done by gambling. If, like me, you know it's time to rein in the pokies, then vote the Greens into the balance of power tomorrow.

We have some amazing candidates in the lower house. In Mount Druitt, Greens candidate Asm Mahbub Morshed is a powerful advocate for his community. He has lived through the climate emergency firsthand, and he knows that education and health systems need to work for everybody, not just the rich. In Castle Hill, Greens candidate Tina Kordrostami has been blazing a path with her powerful relentless work. Everywhere from podcasts to street stalls, she's speaking to people about the need to take on the housing crisis and protect the planet. Tina is one of four Australian Iranian women currently running for the Greens in New South Wales. I also recognise Masoomeh Asgari in Auburn, Thelma Ghayyem in Kellyville and Minoo Toussi in Penrith. I can't wait to see what these extraordinary women achieve.