Mr Foster made the announcement at the Deloraine Hotel, stating that a potential future Labor government had no right to tell people how to spend their money. 

“It’s 99.5 per cent of us who don't have a problem [with gambling], so why change the rules?​,” he said.

“Everybody has an addiction – I've got one, it's food.

“So down the track are they going to say David you're overweight, and they're going to stop me from eating the food I want?

“I pay taxes, I pay these politicians wages, I should have the choice of what to do with my money.”

The Tasmanian Hospitality Association-backed Love Your Local campaign campaign began last year after opposition leader Rebecca White announced Labor’s pokies policy.

However, Murchison Rumney Labor MLC Sarah Lovell said there were more informed people to campaign on the issue than Mr Foster.

“I think Tasmanians should be listening to evidence,” she said. 

“We've seen evidence [in a parliamentary] inquiry, and there's a huge amount of evidence about the harm that pokies do. 

“I think Tasmanians should be listening to people like Robert Kreshl who have lived through this exact issue and has lost everything and rebuilt his life.​” 

Five-and-a-half years ago Mr Kreshl was homeless and penniless after battling a pokies addiction for more than a decade. 

He entered himself into Hobart’s Bethlehem House in 2012.

“I was totally powerless over it,” he said. 

“I would throw everything from my pocket, and my account, to win big.

“From my point of view [poker machine license owners] are making good money at the cost of the misery of a number of families around Tasmania.”

Chairman of the Love Your Local campaign Michael Best said gaming was an important financial contributor to the hospitality industry.

“If gaming is to go, numerous venues will close, there’s going to be thousands of people will lose their jobs, there’s going to be thousands of local businesses who rely upon our industry for support and they’re going to hurt,” he said.