Treasurer Eric Abetz overrode the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission on gaming room closure hours without seeking legal advice, after the commission refused his request to exempt two venues.
A Legislative Council inquiry into pokies harm minimisation also heard today that two of the government’s measures, ATMs in gaming venues and ticket-in ticket-out machines, were not recommended by Treasury.
Abetz told the inquiry he phoned the commission to ask whether two venues could be grandfathered under its new rule setting standard gaming room closure hours of 2am to 9am.
He said two small businesses had told him fixed hours would severely disrupt them.
When the commission declined, he issued a substitute ministerial direction with Cabinet approval, three days before the rule was due to take effect.
“Out of concern for a couple of small businesses, not the big lobby … the government did what it did and, you know, I don’t apologise for that,” he said.
Treasury Deputy Secretary Jonathan Root confirmed no legal advice was sought on the direction.
Independent Nelson MLC Meg Webb said she believed it was the first time a minister had overruled a statutory rule the commission had just made.
Abetz said he relied on the department to flag legal problems and would not have proceeded if warned the direction might be illegal.
Root also confirmed ATMs and ticket-in ticket-out machines were not in Treasury’s options paper to government.
Abetz confirmed the government had also consulted Hospitality Tasmania and venue owners, while Root said there had been no formal consultation with the commission.
Abetz denied that was deliberate.
He said the package should be judged against the current system, pointing to mandatory closure hours rising from four to seven a day, a 75% increase.
He also pointed to a lower $100 machine loading limit, facial recognition to enforce exclusions and immediate self-exclusion via a QR code.
“To assert that all the changes I’ve outlined somehow don’t increase the capacity for harm minimisation, I think, defies logic,” he said.
Abetz said the committee’s acknowledgement that the measures were at least a “minuscule” improvement meant “I think I’ve won something”.
He said the mandatory pre-commitment card, deferred in 2024 pending a national approach, was now on “fairly permanent hold”.
Commission Chair Jenny Cranston told the inquiry last month the commission had briefed Abetz that the impact on venues had been “way overstated”, with 74 venues completely unaffected.
The commission said in the end only one venue objected, because it wanted to open its gaming room at 7am.
It said the longer closure was “pretty minimally effective as a harm measure because most venues were not operating outside the closure period anyway”.
Cranston said ATMs would still give “easy access to cash in a venue that didn’t exist before” and facial recognition “doesn’t prevent harm”.
She said the substitute direction “does raise questions about moving forward and our capacity to exercise our independent statutory functions”.