The NSW Opposition has slammed the Minns Government\u2019s inaction on problem gambling, after the 2025-26 budget revealed a drastic increase in gaming machine revenue.
\u00a0
The budget papers project $2.6b will be brought in from the pokies tax on clubs and hotels across the state in 2025-26, with that figure forecast to rise to more than $3b by 2028-29.
\u00a0
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said when a government relies on gambling losses to prop up its budget, it\u2019s not just lazy, it\u2019s wrong.
\u00a0
\u201cThe Minns Labor Government promised to tackle problem gambling, but instead they\u2019re banking on it growing, with gaming machine revenue set to soar by 31 per cent since 2023-24,\u201d Mr Speakman said.
\u00a0
\u201cEvery dollar made from someone\u2019s addiction is a dollar taken from their family, their future, their wellbeing.
\u00a0
\u201cSeven months on, there\u2019s still no response to the Independent Panel\u2019s roadmap for reform, just silence and a growing dependence on pokies revenue.
\u00a0
This budget proves Labor isn\u2019t serious about reform\u2014it\u2019s addicted to the revenue, and the community is paying the price.\u201d
\u00a0
Shadow Minister for Gaming and Racing Kevin Anderson said Labor would rather cash in than address the issue.
\u00a0
\u201cThe Minns Labor Government talks a big game when it comes to problem gambling and harm minimisation, but this budget demonstrates that it\u2019s all talk, and no action from Labor,\u201d Mr Anderson said.
\u00a0
\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing here is a 31 per cent increase in gaming machine revenue over five years since 2023-24, and much or most of that revenue is coming from the pockets of problem gamblers.
\u00a0
\u201cThe situation is worsening in NSW, which is extremely concerning, and these ongoing significant increases sadly suggest the Government has no plans to fix things.\u201d
\u00a0
There are also questions around why the Government still hasn\u2019t responded to the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform\u2019s \u2018Roadmap for Gaming Reform report, seven months after it was released.
\u00a0
\u201cLabor\u2019s delayed response to the report is leaving the community, and the industry in the dark about the future of gaming in NSW,\u201d Mr Anderson said.
\u00a0
\u201cThere\u2019s mounting evidence Labor\u2019s gaming policies are failing, yet there\u2019s nothing in this budget that shows a commitment to address the report\u2019s recommendations.
\u00a0
\u201cDespite an election commitment to tackle problem gambling, the Minns Government has demonstrated very little willingness or interest to uphold that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The NSW Opposition has slammed the Minns Government\u2019s inaction on problem gambling, after the 2025-26 budget revealed a drastic increase in gaming machine revenue.\u00a0The budget papers project $2.6b will be brought in from the pokies tax on clubs and hotels across the state in 2025-26, with that figure forecast to rise to more than $3b … Continue reading “Minns Labor Government addicted to gambling”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33526,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33525\/revisions\/33526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}