NSW cashless gaming card policy may include exemptions for regional pubs and clubs

A transition period to exclude non-metropolitan areas from the cashless gaming card is under consideration by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

Australia.- In a new attempt to win support from The National Party of Australia, which is still hesitant about the introduction of cashless gaming cards, the Perrottet government may allow a transition period that excludes non-metropolitan areas.

According to The Guardian, National Party leader Paul Toole said on Thursday (January 19) that the idea was part of ongoing discussions on the proposal. Perrottet has been campaigning for cashless gaming for months and is under increasing pressure to release details of his policy after Labor announced its own proposed gaming reforms.

While the Labor party does not support the immediate introduction of cashless gambling, opposition leader Chris Minns announced he would appoint a panel of experts to oversee a test of the new technology if elected in March.

Minns’ proposal also includes a ban on club donations. While gambling companies are already banned from making donations in NSW, clubs are banned because of their charitable status.

Perrottet said: “I’ve been a longstanding advocate for public funding [of elections] because we need to be in a position where the public has the greatest conference possible in elected officials and anything that we can do to increase that we should.”

ClubsNSW chairman, George Peponis, has accused media and anti-gambling advocates of misrepresenting its position on digital technology. The gaming group is convinced cashless gaming cards are not a workable solution as debate about the technology intensifies ahead of the state election in March.

See also: Australian PM rejects a nationwide gambling reform