under a $350 million plan offering pubs and clubs zero-interest loans, grants and buybacks as he forges ahead with a plan to rein in gambling in the state.
Under the plan, pubs and clubs will have five years to convert their machines. Small and medium-sized players will be given interest-free loans to help with the transition, as well as $50,000 one-off grants to invest to reduce their reliance on gambling income.“I don’t think there’s a person in the state who doesn’t know someone who has been affected by problem gambling, or will know someone whose family has broken down as a result ... the time for trials is over, the time for delivery is now.
An element of the package proposing to buyback machines in a bid to reduce the number of licences in the state is likely to be snubbed by the state’s biggest poker machine owners and could drive up the value of the machines, according to industry insiders. Mr Tinning said that he was already fielding advances from smaller operators with less than half a dozen machines who were keen to sell while they could. “They were up around $650,000 a couple of months ago, but this announcement has prompted some nervousness in the industry which has prompted some [country] owners to think, ‘we’ll get out now’,” he said.
“I will listen to an independent former inspector of the ICAC than Labor and the Greens in a political committee,” Mr Perrottet said. A later report completed by former NSW public service commissioner Graham Head found that Mr Ayres had not kept an “arm’s length” from the selection process, which prompted Mr Ayres’ resignation from cabinet.
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