Crown Sydney refused slots as NSW Government commits to ongoing gaming machine reduction
NSW Premier Chris Minns has rejected shaping new legislation to allow Crown’s Sydney casino to install slot machines.
Crown’s waterfront casino at Barangaroo opened in 2022 as a VIP, table-only casino, but is believed to have been recently lobbying MPS for the inclusion of slot machines.
The Premier said: “I want to make it clear that the government is not going to move legislation to allow poker machines at Crown Casino. This is a legislative imposition that’s been put in place in the state for over a decade. It would require a bill, presumably, from the government, to knock over that restriction, and I’m not going to do it.”
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich said: “With gambling harm on the rise, we need less venues with large poker machine floors, not new ones right on the harbour.”
The move comes as the NSW Government said it welcomed a NSW Auditor General’s Performance Audit into regulation of gaming machines under the Gaming Machines Act 2001, with both relevant Government agencies accepting its recommendations.
The report highlighted how NSW accounts for more than half of all the pokie machines in Australia, including three times the number of machines per 1,000 adults than the next most populous state of Victoria. The state had 87,749 poker machines in operation at 2000 venues in 2023-24, generating a profit of $8.4bn.
The report stated: “One of the objectives of the Act is to provide for an ongoing reduction in the number of gaming machines in the State. At the time the Act was introduced, there were more than 100,000 gaming machines operating in clubs and hotels in NSW. This number has reduced by 13,758 since 2001–02, which is an average of 598 machines per year. At this rate, it will take more than 55 years for NSW to reach parity with the national average for gaming machines per 1,000 adults.”
The Government stated: “The Minns Labor Government takes harm minimisation seriously and had already implemented a number of initiatives, including reducing the cash input limit from $5,000 to $500 for all new gaming machines from 1 July 2023 and continuing to reduce the state-wide cap on gaming machine entitlements, so that every year the number of gaming machines reduces based on forfeiture rates from June 2023.”
“We have also banned political donations from clubs with electronic gaming machines, effective from 1 July 2023. In addition to these reforms, the Government funds the GambleAware Helpline and Gambling Help Online. Both services are available 24/7 which means anyone in NSW can access free and confidential gambling support services online, by phone or face to face.
“While the former government over 12 years introduced several initiatives, the NSW Labor Government has moved quicker and has implemented more comprehensive reforms over the past two years.
“The Government notes that while many of our reforms have only been in place for under 12 months, we acknowledge and welcome that both the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport and Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority have accepted the recommendations made in the report. This is complex reform, and changing behaviour takes time. The Government is currently considering further recommendations from the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform.”
