Casino giant slapped down in latest poker machine bid
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Friday ruled out moving legislation to allow Crown's Sydney casino to install poker machines.
It followed reports the gaming giant was lobbying MPs to overcome the legal obstacle as their licence does not permit pokies.
"This is a legislative imposition that's been put in place in the state for over a decade," the premier said.
"It would require a bill, presumably, from the government, to knock over that restriction, and I'm not going to do it."
The government did not indicate its position if a non-government MP tried to move legislation supporting Crown's position.
But there is no suggestion any MP would make that move.
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich said allowing pokies in Crown's waterfront casino at Barangaroo would betray the community's agreement to give away public land for a restricted gaming facility without poker machines.
Gaming tables at the towering complex opened a year late in 2022 after an inquiry found Crown was not fit to operate a casino, forcing it into three years of remediation.
"With gambling harm on the rise, we need less venues with large poker machine floors, not new ones right on the harbour," Mr Greenwich said.
He referenced a NSW auditor-general report released on Thursday that found regulators were failing in harm-minimisation efforts.
The report also found licence conditions were not being pro-actively reviewed and little was done to force pokie venues to take meaningful actions when problem gambling was noticed.
Poker machine numbers have increased under the state Labor government, with NSW having half of all Australian pokies in 2022/23.
Profits from the machines hit all-time highs of $8.4 billion in the 2023/24 financial year.
That delivered $2.3 billion in tax revenue, a figure tipped to hit $2.9 billion by 2027/28.
Gambling reform advocates found the report unsurprising and lamented government inaction in the reform space.
An independent panel in 2024 recommended mandatory cashless gaming be introduced state-wide, but the government has not followed through.
"This inaction privileges the special pleading of a harmful and predatory industry over and above the health and wellbeing of the people of NSW," Wesley Mission chief executive Reverend Stu Cameron said.
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