Labor wanted poker machines to be removed from pubs and clubs by 2023 and confined to casinos.

Ms White said Labor was still firm on the move and the Liberals now had to convince both houses of parliament that the direct licensing to venues for poker machine use was the best model.

She said she hoped fellow parliamentarians would be guided by evidence that poker machines placed in communities caused health, economical and social harm.

“I will only ever make decisions on good research and information,” Ms White said.

“It was the right thing to do. There was no doubt that there was a lot of money that came into Tasmania on the back of our announcement to remove poker machines from pubs and clubs if we were successful.”

She encouraged Liberal members to explore their conscience and look at the impact poker machines might have on friends and family members.

Liberal Party state president Geoff Page said Labor’s focus on poker machines did not seem to be a vote-changing issue for most people and labelled claims that $5 million was spent on the party’s campaign “wildy off the mark”.

“Of course, pubs and clubs fought back when Labor threatened their businesses and the jobs of their employees,” he said.

Braddon Labor candidate Anita Dow, who will be taking a seat in parliament, said she got a “mixed reaction” to the party’s policy as she door-knocked the electorate.

“It wasn’t the number one issue that people raised with me,” she said. 

Denison Labor candidate Zelinda Sherlock, on ABC Radio, said the policy was not as popular as predicted in the electorate.

“People think that we went to far with that; they were the comments that I was getting on the doors,” she said.

Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz believed the party would revisit its poker machine policy.

“I think the Labor Party will have to come to the realisation that their policy did not attract the attention of the Tasmanian people,” he said.

“With a primary vote of 32.5 per cent, they really have to undertake a deep analysis and understand why they were unable to gain the traction that they needed to get anywhere near forming government.

“The scorched earth policy that they were going to have for poker machines, under strict analysis, was exposed as being very superficial.”

But Social Action and Research Centre manager Meg Webb believed the election had demonstrated poker machines were an issue of concern to Tasmanians.

Ms Webb said Anglicare had been providing evidence-based research on the issue for the past two decades and would continue to do so. 

“We will keep advocating for the removal of poker machines from hotels and clubs as we know too well the damage caused by having a dangerous product located in local communities,” she said.