The changes they’re demanding will mean our club has to find about$350,000 to replace our machines because the deadlines they’ve put in place are too tight. 

That’s a huge amount of money and it’s going to hurt us, and mean we give less back to our community. 

The government is giving clubs just three years to replace all our poker machines, and that’s assuming it only takes manufacturers a year to develop pokies fitted with the government’s pre-commitment technology! 

Three years is far too short considering some clubs haven’t replaced their pokies in the past decade. 

The other point about this legislation is that the government is continuing to stick its head in the sand when it comes to the many other forms of gambling available. 

It doesn’t stop a problem gambler from losing $1000 on a horse race in two minutes, purchasing  $1000 worth of lottery tickets or jumping online and gambling with their credit card. 

So is the government going to make bookmakers, TABs or newsagents selling lotteries such as Powerball or scratchies start having a pre-commitment system as well? 

What’s the difference between these types of gambling and the pokies? 

Those vendors don’t have to have formal qualifications and training such as responsible conduct of gambling training to help problem gamblers either. Club staff working in these areas do, it’s a legal requirement! 

It’s just another area of government legislation that doesn’t make sense.

OWEN WALKER

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

SOUTH TAMWORTH

BOWLING CLUB