It was a sound strategy. Greenwich and the crossbench are determined to make the cards compulsory,not just to combat money laundering but also as a measure to help problem gamblers. It would also force Labor and the Coalition’s hand. They would have to back his amendment,or send the message that they were not prepared to act on the crime commission’s dire warnings. Instead,the government pulled the bill.
Loading
And yet Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Tuesday that he wanted to pursue the cashless card before the election. He has a problem with that ambition,though. On Wednesday,his deputy,Nationals leader Paul Toole,who is also the police minister,said the “technology is not there” to make the card work,so the government should instead talk to the industry.
Greenwich,meanwhile,has been highly effective in this term of parliament,including after Berejiklian’s departure. With the backing of a motley crew,including Health Minister Brad Hazzard,who is now about to retire,Greenwich ensured abortion was removed from the Crimes Act,and voluntary assisted dying was legalised. Both were hugely difficult social issues for the Liberals to deal with. Nonetheless,Greenwich secured both reforms.
His next priority will be taking on the powerful clubs and pubs. Few lobby groups are as skilled at strong-arming MPs as the clubs,led by former Labor staffer Josh Landis,who is known to have a tough approach when it comes to dealing with stakeholders.
Before the 2019 election,the Coalition and Labor signed a memorandum of understanding with ClubsNSW – actually,it’s a binding agreement – that there would be no changes to “existing regulatory regime for gaming” and the government would not increase the “current clubs gaming tax regime”. ClubsNSW will heavy both sides to sign a similar agreement before March.
Loading
ClubsNSW is dead against a mandatory gaming card,insisting it would be too costly to implement and bring the industry to its knees. It is a difficult argument to mount given how lucrative pokies are in NSW.
Statewide poker machine turnover rose from $74 billion in 2019-20 to $85 billion in 2020-21,equivalent to a quarter of all household consumption spending in NSW during that year. As NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes said,surely a mandatory cashless gaming card only threatens the viability of pubs and clubs if their business model is built on the proceeds of crime?
While Berejiklian knew she needed to work with Greenwich,some in Labor are sceptical about him. Despite his social progressiveness,they are convinced he is a Liberal masquerading as an independent and would only ever back a conservative government.
Greenwich and Piper would see Labor’s assessment as unsophisticated. Both have stressed they want stable government,and no doubt will take the same view regardless of which party ultimately governs after the election. But they will also have the impetus to play a big role in that government’s policy and agenda.
Lobby groups such as ClubsNSW may hold considerable sway over the major parties but they won’t when it comes to the independents. Greenwich did not get his way this time with his latest social reform – on pokies. But his political nous,and the rise of the crossbench,all but guarantees he will.
The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge,champion and inform your own.Sign up here.