ACT Labor has promised to slash the number of poker machines in Canberra by nearly 2800 over the next two decades, and fast-track the introduction of cashless gaming in the city's clubs in a bid to reduce gambling harm.
A re-elected Labor government would cut the number of poker machine licences from 3790 to 1000 by 2045, vowing to cut the number of machines by 500 every four years under a compulsory surrender scheme.
The party has also promised to introduce cashless gaming in 2026-27, which would bolster the city's self-exclusion scheme for problem gamblers.
ATMs and EFTPOS withdrawals would also be banned in clubs as part of the party's effort to reduce gambling harm.
"ACT Labor believes that the most effective way to reduce the harm caused by EGMs is to reduce the number of machines available, and their geographic availability, alongside the introduction of mandatory harm reduction measures in venues," the party said.
Clubs would also be allowed to "use their land assets to invest in appropriate housing projects, including affordable housing, aged care, and build-to-rent", Labor says, which the party believes will support housing supply and ensure the viability of the clubs sector.
Labor would also support a club to open without poker machines in the Molonglo Valley, where gaming machine authorisations have been banned under new planning laws.
The party said it would seek to legislate a cut to 1000 poker machines by 2045.
"ACT Labor already has a proven track record on reducing EGMs. The number of machines in Canberra has reduced from 5022 in 2015, to 3790 today," the party said.
Compulsory and voluntary surrender schemes run by the government have featured payments made to the clubs who are either forced or volunteer to surrender their poker machines.
The current governing agreement between Labor and the Greens included a commitment to reduce poker machines in the ACT to 3500 by July 1, 2025, which was legislated in March.
Clubs are paid $15,000 for each of the licences they volunteer to give up, or $20,000 for each licence if they abandon poker machines completely.
"It's a progressive, practical and proven plan to reduce the harm caused by gambling addiction and build a sustainable community clubs sector for Canberra's future," Labor said of its promise.
The election promise puts Labor partially at odds with the current Gaming Minister, Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, who has advocated for a central monitoring system that would link up the territory's poker machines and alert authorities to potential problem gambling.
But Labor has been resistant to the idea, with the party's gaming spokeswoman, Marisa Paterson, previously suggesting the policy was a "dud" and could dissuade the territory from further reducing the number of poker machine licences.
Dr Paterson, a former director of the Australian National University's centre for gambling research, used an Assembly inquiry in March to ask Mr Rattenbury whether spending the expected $70 million required to install a central monitoring system would lock the ACT into having 3500 poker machines indefinitely.
"Minister, can I put it to you that we have a dud policy in the [parliamentary and governing] agreement that to implement requires a $70 million, approximately, central monitoring system that in and of itself is an administrative tool, and we have no idea as a jurisdiction where we're going in terms of what our harm minimisation policies may be, what works, what doesn't," she said.
Mr Rattenbury said he fundamentally rejected that proposition.
"I understand people's potential reservation at spending some material amount of money on such a system. But my question in response is at what price are we not willing to address gambling harm in the territory?" Mr Rattenbury said.
"I think this is a price we need to be willing to pay for an industry that's pulling around $180 million a year in profit."
The ACT Greens' 2024 election policy platform says the party wants "reductions in the number of poker machines and the number of venues hosting poker machines in the ACT, and restrictions on the operating hours of poker machines", along with bet and load-up limits, and reduced access to cash in licensed venues.
