These included increasing the game speed and reducing the return to gamblers, measures which the casino thought could boost their revenue and, therefore, the amount of casino tax they paid the WA government. 'Those things are wreaking social havoc on communities right up and down the east coast.' Similar gaming machines already in WAīut questions have been raised in the Perth Casino Royal Commission about whether there really is much difference between poker machines and the electronic gaming machines (EGMs) which are allowed at Crown Perth.Įven harder to determine is whether these EGMs are any less harmful and addictive than the pokies. 'Anyone who has been interstate and gone up the high street in Melbourne or Adelaide and seen the dens or corners of pubs or even the big leagues clubs would know that it is pretty depressing stuff. 'We talk about the pokies and how there has been a bipartisan position over many years from both sides of politics to stand against the scourge of the pokies,' current Racing and Gaming Minister Reece Whitby told the WA Parliament when he was a new MP in 2018. It has been a source of Sandgroper pride that its pubs and clubs are free of the flashing lights, trumpeting jackpots and resulting gambling addictions in other States. For decades, Western Australia has resisted attempts to introduce pokies.
