Anti-poker machines senator Nick Xenophon has urged the ACT to consider $1 bets and $120-an-hour maximum losses, saying the moves would have a profound impact on problem gamblers.
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Appearing at an ACT Legislative Assembly inquiry into the future of the clubs industry on Tuesday, Senator Xenophon said 40 per cent of poker machine losses came from problem gamblers, and fewer than 15 per cent of people with a problem received help.
He also urged the inquiry to consider an algorithm that would tally people's losses, triggering intervention from the Gambling and Racing Commission for heavy gamblers.
He said reducing poker machine numbers by small amounts, as planned in the ACT, would make little difference.
"It may make people feel a little better, but in practical terms it may have a minimal or negligible impact," he said.
He also criticised the use of eftpos machines in clubs, saying any benefit from the $250-a-day limit on withdrawals from automatic teller machines was lost by people being able to make unlimited withdrawals from eftpos machines.
He questioned the commitment of venues in identifying problem gamblers, saying he had spoken to people who had lost the equivalent of their pay packet in a very short time without intervention from the venue, even when they had shown "palpable distress".
Poker machines allowed people to lose up to $1200 an hour.
The key was to make the machines less addictive through measures such as $1 bets and an hourly limit on losses, he said, suggesting tax incentives for clubs which introduced the approach, while not expecting many to jump at the offer.
"Why don't you try? It's an experiment worth having," he said.
In response to questions from Labor backbencher Mary Porter about the damage from other forms of gambling, Senator Xenophon said the argument that reducing poker machines would result in people simply transferring to another form of gambling didn't wash as gambling losses rose exponentially when poker machines were introduced.
"Still the biggest source of problem gambling in this country is poker machines, and that's unlikely to be overtaken anytime soon," he said.
Ms Porter asked whether people would be upset and turn to other forms of gambling if they were approached by the gambling commission about their losses?
Senator Xenophon said there was significant shame attached to problem gambling and the approach would need to be careful and non-judgmental.
In reply to questions from Labor backbencher Meegan Fitzharris about the unique community role of clubs in Canberra, Senator Xenophon said having poker machines in fewer venues – as in Western Australia, where they were only in the casino – would reduce problem gambling significantly.
He said whatever community good clubs did as a result of the money they made from poker machines should be seen in the light of evidence that 40 per cent of losses came from problem gamblers.
The business model relied heavily on addiction, he said, pointing to a Productivity Commission report that one in 20 people who played a poker machine developed a problem.
If one in 20 people got sick from eating at a restaurant, it would be closed. Cars were recalled if just one in 1000 had a defective airbag or brake lining.
The Southern Cross Club, the ACT Rugby Union Club and others will appear before the inquiry on Wednesday.
