Last week, the Northern Territory government announced its plans to lift the cap on poker machines in the state. As expected, the announcement has attracted a great deal of criticism from gambling researchers and responsible gambling campaigners.
Over the course of the past few years, researchers across Australia have attempted to determine the link between problem gambling rates and the number of gaming machines in a given area. There seems to a correlation between these two factors, and academics are concerned that this will be a problem when NT clubs are given the option to add new poker machines.
Matt Stevens of the Menzies School of Health has noted the potential negative impact of allowing clubs to increase their poker machine numbers. He says: "There definitely will be an increase in problem gambling rates as a result.You find with poker machines, the more machines you have in a venue, the more money per machine they make. It's to do with psychology and marketing principles.
People are hearing machines winning, so that encourages people to keep gambling and betting, thinking they're going to win as well”. Many members of the general public are dubious about the government’s decision to lift the cap. While politicians have stated that it has been done to help boost the economy, there are concerns that there is an ulterior motive.
Prior to the last Northern Territory election, the Australian Hotels Association donated $150 000 to the Country Liberal Party. Since the AHA owns a large portion of the poker machines in Australia, the donation has attracted some controversy – especially since the government announced the lifting of the cap. NT Gaming Minister Peter Styles continues to defend the decision.
He stands by the fact that the state’s population has vastly increased over the course of the past few years, and the influx of residents calls for new pokies.
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