00:00When the Tasmanian government hit pause on its nation-leading mandatory cashless pokies
00:07card, it pointed to MaxGaming's delivery plan report, saying it revealed a likely cost
00:14increase, implementation delays and showed the proposed system would be too complex.
00:20Given we're a small state, a practical way forward is to work with other states on a
00:26pre-commitment solution.
00:29Now the Greens have obtained the report under right to information laws.
00:34There is nothing in this report that gives them any excuse to walk away from it.
00:39What has happened is that Pokies Lobby have got what they wanted.
00:43The report provides a roadmap outlining how the card-based system would work.
00:48It doesn't contain any conclusions about the system's complexity and seems to suggest the
00:54rollout timeline was tight but possible.
00:58The report points to a lack of feasibility for the implementation of the card, but also
01:04that it is cost prohibitive in a jurisdiction like Tasmania to be the lead on a complex
01:09piece like that.
01:11Those costs are redacted.
01:13There appears to be some increase from initial estimates, but it's unclear how much.
01:19The government has refused to release the figures, saying they're commercial in confidence.
01:25How much has he decided is too much to pay to protect Tasmanians from gambling harm,
01:30the nation-leading reforms that he promised.
01:33The Greens argue the powerful Tasmanian Hospitality Association pressured the government to drop
01:39the card-based scheme, which the THA hasn't denied.
01:44As industry, we believe that the card is too complex and too hard to be implemented and
01:48would cause more harm than it will do good.
01:51The government says it will introduce other poker machine harm reduction initiatives.
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