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NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s commitment to implementing mandatory cashless gaming cards for poker machines in his state — saying it’s a matter not of if, but how, it’s done — is, forgive the pun, a high-stakes gamble, but one that deserves support.

For the first time, a NSW leader is standing up to the malignant gambling industry which has dictated terms to generations of NSW politicians. The clubs and pubs industry in NSW hates cashless cards with a passion, fearing it will dry up billions of dollars in cash from the proceeds of crime flowing through poker machines.

Unsurprisingly, NSW Labor is refusing to support the idea. NSW Labor has taken $1.7 million in donations from the gambling industry between 2001 and 2021, including nearly half a million dollars from ClubsNSW, the lobby group campaigning against cashless cards.

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The Liberals have taken $2.9 million from the gambling industry, including around $1.5 million from ClubsNSW. But at the moment that’s not amounting to much for a premier keen for an issue to campaign on in a tough election.

Opposing Perrottet within his own government are the ever-toxic Nationals, who have enjoyed over three-quarters of a million dollars in donations from the gambling lobby, including over $300,000 from ClubsNSW. It was the Nationals, under John Barilaro, who derailed the push by then-gaming minister Victor Dominello for a cashless poker machine card in 2021.

Let’s be clear here: Perrottet is taking on a criminal industry that uses its huge revenues from the proceeds of crime and exploitation of misery to buy political influence across both sides of politics all around the country. The refusal of Labor and the Nationals to support him speaks volumes for the poisonous role that gambling money plays in politics.

As Mike Baird found when he took on the gambling industry over its slaughter and torture of greyhounds, or as Tasmanian Labor discovered when it attempted poker machine reform, Perrottet might yet find that the combined power of the gambling lobby is too great.

Crucial to the gambling industry’s success in forcing a reverse on the issue of greyhounds was its capacity to exploit the media, particularly rabid shock jocks on Sydney radio.

Since then News Corp has become a joint media-gambling company — although its gambling property Betr operates in online gaming, not poker machines. Where The Daily Telegraph lines up will be significant for Perrottet’s chances of success. If it sides with the criminals and exploiters, it will make his chances much harder.

Nine’s Sydney Morning Herald has been more active in pointing out the malignant role of ClubsNSW but Nine, too, has its own gambling interests via the massive amount of online gambling advertising it inflicts on readers, and the relentless propaganda for the horse torture industry it churns out. Again, a different segment of the gambling industry, but for both Nine and News Corp, there’s a real test coming over the tension between revenue and public interest journalism.

For political parties, these issues would be much simpler if they decided that taking money from the gambling industry was no longer acceptable. The cost would be significant, but quite mutual.

Do you support Perrottet’s stand against the gambling industry? Let us know your thoughts by writing to [email protected]. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

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