The state’s gaming lobby has contributed well over $100,000 to party coffers in the lead-up to next month’s state election, with Labor, Liberal and the newly-minted Australian Conservatives all benefiting, as the Australian Hotels Association seeks to curb the looming influence of Nick Xenophon’s SA Best.
Potential political kingmaker and longtime anti-gambling crusader Nick Xenophon insists poker machine policy will play a decisive role in the state election campaign – despite the hotels lobby insisting it’s a third-order issue.
Crown Casino has been accused of deliberately tampering with poker machines to increase gamblers’ losses, with MP Andrew Wilkie telling federal parliament the allegations suggest a “broader pattern of misbehaviour” in the pokies industry.
Not all publicans feel pokies have a place in city pubs. Tony Bond tells CityMag why he decided to empty The Ed Castle of its gaming machines.