NSW blocks Crown Sydney from operating poker machines

Australia’s biggest casino group, Crown Resorts, has been told it won’t be allowed to run poker machines in New South Wales (NSW), as the fallout continues from a scathing report into one of the main pokies regulators.

On Friday (June 13), NSW Premier Chris Minns made it clear that there won’t be any new laws to let Crown’s Sydney casino install pokies.

This comes after reports surfaced that the casino giant had been trying to convince MPs to change the rules, since their current licence doesn’t allow poker machines.

Out with the gambling signs, in with the welcome signs.

We promised to get rid of these gambling ads outside pubs and clubs.

And that is exactly what we're doing. pic.twitter.com/Bekk28di2S

— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) August 15, 2023

NSW says no poker machines at Crown Sydney Casino

Cited by the Australian Associated Press, the Premier stated: “I want to make it clear that the government is not going to move legislation to allow poker machines at Crown Casino.

“This is a legislative imposition that’s been put in place in the state for over a decade. It would require a bill, presumably, from the government, to knock over that restriction, and I’m not going to do it.”

“The Government notes that while many of our reforms have only been in place for under 12 months, we acknowledge and welcome that both the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport and Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority have accepted the recommendations made in the report.” – NSW ministerial statement

Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich added: “With gambling harm on the rise, we need less venues with large poker machine floors, not new ones right on the harbour.”

Writing on Facebook, he continued: “Crown was GIVEN your public land on the condition there would be no harmful poker machines at this “high roller” venue, and now they allegedly want 500!”

NSW audit shows disproportionate gambling harm

The NSW Government says it’s backing a performance audit by the NSW Auditor General into how gaming machines are regulated under the Gaming Machines Act 2001. The government departments involved have agreed to the report’s recommendations.

According to the report, NSW is home to more than half of all the poker machines in Australia. In fact, it has about three times as many machines per 1,000 adults compared to Victoria, the next biggest state. In 2023–24, there were 87,749 pokies spread across 2,000 venues, pulling in a massive AUD 8.4 billion ($5.5 billion) in profits.

“Gaming machine losses and the social costs of gambling harm continue to be disproportionately concentrated in socio-economically disadvantaged communities,” the report stated.

The government responded to the report saying it had already implemented a number of initiatives to reduce harm including introducing lower cash input limits on new machines, a reduction in gaming machine numbers, bans on visible signage, mandatory responsible gambling practices in venues, a $100 million investment in harm prevention, and stronger exclusion schemes supported by facial recognition technology.

It added: “While the former government over 12 years introduced several initiatives, the NSW Labor Government has moved quicker and has implemented more comprehensive reforms over the past two years.

“This is complex reform, and changing behaviour takes time.”

ReadWrite has reached out to Crown Resorts for comment.

Featured image: Canva / Crown Resorts

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