2020-08-19
The ACT Greens will seek to ban gambling entities from donating to political parties, in a major vote due to go before the Legislative Assembly.
If supported, amendments from MLA Caroline Le Couteur will dramatically curb the undue influence of gaming in ACT politics.
Gambling entities are more likely than many other organisations or sectors to be in positions where relatively simple changes in Government policy can have major implications for their viability and profitability - for example, in relation to bet and load limits on poker machines.
Comments attributable to ACT Greens Spokesperson for Democracy Caroline Le Couteur MLA:
“Political donations of this kind are a corrupting influence. You shouldn’t be able to buy influence in a democracy. This has been allowed to go on for far too long.
“There is an unresolvable tension here that needs to be called out. You simply can’t fund your political party with millions of dollars worth of pokies revenue, and then claim that this has zero impact on your political decisions. It doesn’t pass the pub test.
“The ACT Greens know that there is a need to rebuild trust in the Canberra community about the influence of lobby groups in the political process. Canberrans should have full confidence that the decisions that are being made on our behalf are not being unduly influenced by corporate lobby groups such as the gaming lobby.
“For decades, the Greens have called on the other parties to support our efforts, to help our community clubs to transition away from a heavy reliance on pokies money - largely funded by people experiencing gambling harm, many of whom have had their lives badly impacted as a direct result of these machines.”
Comments attributable to Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Greens Spokesperson for Gaming Law Reform:
“It’s time to put people before pokies. In Canberra, which doesn’t have any bet limits in place, you can lose upwards of upwards of $1,200 an hour. With sustained calls for evidence based reform, there is a need for the community to be confident that political donations are not influencing decisions around important social issues such as gambling reform.
“We need to have an honest conversation about the basis of these gambling revenues that are being funnelled into political donations. We know that at least 40% of gambling revenue comes from people experiencing gambling harm. Given this, it is completely inappropriate that this money is used for political purposes”
“Canberrans deserve to have full confidence in our political parties making decisions in the interest of the public good - not their donors.”
More recently, both ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals were asked to vote in favour of sensible and low-key measures to install bet limits and load-up limits to curb the damage done to people experiencing gambling harm from poker machines during the uncertain COVID pandemic. Neither party supported the measures.
Banning donations from property developers
The ACT Greens do not accept political donations from property developers.
At the 2016 ACT election, the Greens pledged to ban property developer donations to ACT political parties. This became a key item in the Labor-Greens Parliamentary Agreement. ACT Labor also stopped accepting donations from property developers from the 2016 election. The resulting Bill enacting the Parliamentary Agreement item commitment was introduced into the Assembly in November 2018, and will be debated tomorrow (Thursday).