In 2004, South Australian politicians decided to remove 3000 poker machines across the state. Over the course of the past nine years, 2200 pokies had been removed and it has taken quite some time to eliminate the rest. Now, local politicians have decided to speed up the process.
For the past few years, responsible gambling advocates have criticized local politicians for failing to remove the final 800 pokies. Clubs, pubs and hotels have been benefiting from games that should not be available I the community – and now the state government is doing something about this important issue.
“The hotel industry has had revenue from 700 poker machines they shouldn’t have had for nearly a decade now,” says Mark Henley, spokesperson for responsible gambling organization, Uniting Communities. According to ABC News, more poker machines will be withdrawn from circulation after entitlements are traded in November 2013. As poker machines are bought and sold between operators, several will be removed.
For every four machines that are traded, one license will be cancelled. "This brings us to a total of 254 entitlements sold and 44 entitlements cancelled since the current trading system was introduced in June last year," says Paul White, South Australia’s Liquor and Gambling Commissioner. After these games are removed, there are still another 700 games left.
If the removal continues at this rate, it will be quite some time before the remaining licenses are cancelled. As such, there will likely be other initiatives put in place that will aim to reduce the number of pokies in South Australia. However, at the moment , this is the only potential method that has been presented.
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