Tasmania’s hospitality chiefs have bunkered down after Labor’s game-changing announcement to restrict poker machine gambling to casinos by 2023.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The party announced on Wednesday it would, in government, transition the machines out of pubs and clubs casinos over five years, aided by a $55 million compensation package.
Venue owners approached by Fairfax Tasmania on Thursday on the policy referred the enquiries to the Tasmanian Hospitality Association.
THA general manager Steve Old has not returned calls for comment for the past two days.
The Federal Group has not responded to interview requests and neither has the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, which owns five large Tasmanian hotels with gaming machines.
Denison independent MHR Andrew Wilkie on Wednesday considered Labor's policy strong enough to be an election decider.
But Premier Will Hodgman said the March poll would be fought on a number of fronts: health, education and economic matters.
He said the state's gambling regulations were the strictest in the country and there were mechanisms already in place to prevent problem gambling and assist people caught in that trap.
Social service groups have praised Labor's policy as bold and a clear indication that the party had listened to the community.
Mr Hodgman labelled it a "nanny state" approach.
"We do listen to the community and one thing we hear is that they don't like being told by government what they can and can't do," he said.
"Drinking causes problems for some people. Fast food. What's going to be next?"
After months of the government pushing the Opposition for its position on poker machines, Labor finance spokesman Scott Bacon turned the tables.
He criticised the government for not having yet officially responded to the parliamentary inquiry into future gaming markets, completed earlier this year.
“The Liberals were desperate to see Labor’s gaming policy and now it is on the table,” Mr Bacon said.
“Labor has been out talking to the community and consulting on this issue for months – what has Will Hodgman been doing?”
Greens gambling spokeswoman Andrea Dawkins said Labor’s policy represented a “fork in the road” moment for the Tasmanian Hospitality Association.
“There is a role here for the THA to change direction from peak pokies lobbyists to instead spearheading the campaign to resolve the skills shortages currently experienced in the hospitality sector,” she said.