Unions NSW attacks Labor for ‘woefully inadequate’ poker machine strategy after damning audit

‘Supply creates demand, and in turn, misery,’ Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said of the state’s almost 90,000 poker machines, in response to a report from the auditor general. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

The union movement in New South Wales has launched a blistering attack on the state Labor government, arguing it has showed a “fundamental lack of ambition” in ending the “misery” caused by almost 90,000 poker machines.

Mark Morey, the secretary of Unions NSW, accused the Minns government of congratulating itself on what he said were superficial changes to an industry extracting $8.6bn from the state’s residents each year, with the majority of losses in low socioeconomic areas.