The cashed-up Australian gambling industry does not need more lobbyists, retired Labor MP Kelvin Thomson has said, a week after his former colleague Stephen Conroy joined the ranks of the wagering sector.
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"It don't think it [gambling] needs more people to argue for industry self-regulation," Mr Thomson, who has joined the Alliance for Gambling Reform, told Fairfax Media.
Last week Mr Conroy, a former ALP senator and party powerbroker, was announced as the executive director of Responsible Wagering Australia, a new body bankrolled by corporate bookmakers including CrownBet, Sportsbet and Bet365.
As a minister, Mr Conroy was in charge of online gambling laws.
Mr Thomson ended his long political career – which included stints in the Federal and Victorian Parliaments – in July. He has recently joined the Alliance for Gambling Reform as a part-time campaign manager. He found the post through an ethical jobs website.
"That [gambling reform] is a cause I think is worth working for," Mr Thomson said. "I think we can do better."
Mr Thomson was part of the Gillard government that abandoned national poker machine reforms, but he now says that decision was a mistake caused by internal Labor tensions.
The former member for Wills was also in state government when the Kirner Labor government legalised poker machines in Victoria.
He said that machines had become more addictive over time and that new controls must be put on addictive features.
He also backs placing a maximum $1 bet limit – currently it is $5 in Victoria – on the machines, which take $2.5 billion from Victorians every year.
He supports a push to give local governments more say in new pokies applications in their areas. Councils and the alliance say the current system is to heavily weighted in favour of the applicant.
This week anti-pokies activists and the Whittlesea Council scored a win at the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation when it rejected a Woolworths-backed proposal for 40 new pokie machines at the Commercial Hotel in South Morang.
The application from the Australian Leisure and Hospitality group was denied because there was "likely to be a net negative social and economic impact to the wellbeing of the community in the municipal district".
The group will appeal the commission's decision at the state's administrative appeals tribunal. It argues adding pokies to the pub would have enhanced entertainment options and allowed it to make extra contributions to the community, as well as renovate the site, which would also benefit the community.
Whittlesea mayor Ricky Kirkham said: "This is a massive win for our community and reflects the strong opposition from local residents, local health agencies and council to the application for more poker machines in a municipality that is already suffering as a result of them."
