MEDIA RELEASE

NICK XENOPHON M.L.C.

INDEPENDENT NO POKIES MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL  

28 April 2005

FEDERAL AND STATE GAMBLING MINISTERS MEET TODAY TO FORMULATE THEIR:

(S)TALL STORY

● Federal Government to push for ‘further research’ rather than take immediate action to help problem gamblers

No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon has labelled as ‘tragic’ the Federal Government’s plan to hold off from helping problem gamblers until further research is conducted.

Despite the Federal Government yesterday publicly criticising the States for their ‘disturbing’ response to problem gambling Federal Community Services Minister Kay Pat terson will today call on State Gambling Ministers to help establish a national gambling research body in a spectacular ‘blame-shifting manoeuvre’.

In an opinion piece in yesterday’s Advertiser Minister Pat terson reprimanded the state and territory governments for taking around $4 billion in revenue from gambling across Australia and giving back a ‘paltry’ one per cent of their revenue into direct services to help those with gambling problems.

But rather than taking immediate action to rectify this ‘disturbing’ situation the Federal Government will await the establishment of a National Gambling Research Institute before ‘making any decisions regarding how to help problem gamblers’.

No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon has described the Federal Government’s response as a further ‘stalling tactic’, designed to absolve the Federal Government from the responsibility it has to help problem gamblers.

“Minister Pat terson will be chairing a meeting of state and territory gambling ministers tomorrow but rather than taking this opportunity to implement serious reform, such as slowing down the rate of play of gaming machines, banning ATMs and note acceptors in gaming rooms or setting maximum bets on poker machines the Minister will merely be stalling things further” Mr Xenophon said.

“It truly is a pathetic response to reprimand the States for their disturbing commitment to helping problem gamblers and then in the same breath try to argue that we need more research before taking action.”

Written and authorised by Nick Xenophon, 653 Lower North East Road, Paradise, SA 5075