The New South Wales Labor party has adopted a tougher stance on poker machines, passing a motion at its state conference on Sunday that includes higher taxes on high-profit clubs, a moratorium on new machine licenses, and a commitment to significantly reduce the number of gaming machines over 10 years.
Key provisions of the motion
The motion, which received unanimous support, mandates that clubs earning more than $20 million annually from poker machines pay increased taxes. It also introduces a moratorium on licenses for new machines and aims to remove 50% of machines relocated between venues from operation. The original proposal by Darcy Byrne, the Labor left mayor of Sydney's inner west, had called for half of all NSW's 90,000 poker machines to be removed.
Additionally, the motion commits to mandatory facial recognition in every gaming room to support a statewide exclusion register, a policy the government is already working on.
Political dynamics and support
Premier Chris Minns, who was pushed to adopt the approach by the party's left, indirectly participated in negotiations. Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey, a key right faction member, also helped negotiate the motion. In his speech, Morey thanked Minns for getting involved about a week ago.
Darcy Byrne told Guardian Australia that "momentum for real reform of poker machine harm is becoming unstoppable." He stated to delegates: "For too long, NSW politics has treated the pokies as a problem that everyone acknowledges, but which nobody is willing to solve … for too long the private interests of the poker machine lobby have trumped the public interest of preventing addiction and harm."
Although Minns is not compelled to legislate the policy, the move comes as Labor seeks unity ahead of the March state election. NSW gaming minister David Harris spoke in favor of the motion on Sunday.
Conference tensions
On Sunday, the Labor left briefly hijacked the conference agenda to force a debate on motions to repeal protest laws, backed by 56 local branches. The left faction supported scrapping two laws, but the discussion slot was placed second last, leading critics to claim an attempt to silence debate. Angus McFarland, secretary of the left-aligned Australian Services Union, moved to bring forward the discussion, arguing it would be absurd not to allocate time. The motion was rejected by the right-controlled conference.
Protests also marked the prime minister's speech, with two protesters displaying a flag reading "Stop Arming Genocide. Free Palestine" during Anthony Albanese's address. They were not removed, and the flag remained visible throughout. Another protester walked out draped in a Palestinian flag.
Albanese criticized an "axis of grievance" between the Liberals, Nationals, and One Nation, focusing on the threat posed by Pauline Hanson's party in NSW. He left the conference before debate on state policy.
