Key Points
- Independent and minor party MPs, as well as anti-gambling advocates, are pushing for an Anzac Day ban on pokies.
- Anti-gambling advocates say military veterans experienced disproportionate levels of gambling harm.
- The NSW premier says gambling is an Anzac Day tradition and individuals should make their own decisions.
An attempt to ban pokies on Anzac Day has been shut down by the NSW premier despite his on the national public holiday.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich is now also proposing shutting down pokie rooms in casinos, pubs and clubs on 25 April.
Under the amendment, to be moved in parliament on Tuesday, the traditional Anzac Day pursuit of playing two-up would be spared from the ban.
The proposal has the support of anti-gambling advocates and other crossbench MPs — including Wakehurst MP Michael Regan and Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper — as well members of The Greens and Animal Justice Party.
Wesley Mission chief executive Stu Cameron said powering down pokies on Anzac Day was the "decent and most respectful thing to do", especially since veterans experienced disproportionate levels of .
"No veteran should spend Anzac Day sitting alone in front of a poker machine designed by behavioural psychologists to addict them," he said.
NSW premier Chris Minns says people traditionally gamble on Anzac Day. Source: AAP / Darren England
"I completely acknowledge people have concerns about widespread, ubiquitous use of poker machines," he told reporters.
"Even if we did close down other forms of gambling on the day, two-up is still legal in NSW ... I'm not saying this is perfect, but I think that this is a commonsense decision."
The NSW government announced in July that it planned to introduce some of the nation's most restrictive rules around retail trade on Anzac Day, to end what Minns described as the "creeping commercialism" of the date.
NSW has among the highest per-capita concentrations of poker machines of any jurisdiction in the world, with gambling losses for 2023 hitting a record $8.1 billion.
Labor has rolled out a cashless gaming trial as part of a suite of anti-pokie measures after it was criticised for stopping short of the former coalition government's pledge to introduce a mandatory cashless system.
The major parties' promises followed a damning NSW Crime Commission report that found criminals were funnelling billions in "dirty" cash through poker machines in pubs and clubs with few controls.
