All Odds Stack Against MP Wilkie's Gambling Reform Bill
The pokies pre-commitment scheme championed by Independent MP Andrew Wilkie could soon fizzle out following the reported pull out of supports for the gambling reform proposal, media reports said.
The Australian reported on Tuesday that Prime Minister Julia Gillard is unlikely to support at this time the proposed legislation, which places a maximum $1 bet limit on poker machines.
The publication added that Ms Gillard had steered her cabinet to instead consider a review of the pre-commitment scheme in the future, which The Australian said will not come until after the next general elections.
The Tasmanian MP claimed that as part of his conditional support for the current Labor government, Ms Gillard had pledged to implement reforms on poker machine gambling, with specific focus on the mandatory pre-commitment and maximum $1 bet.
Wilkie has warned that he would not hesitate to swing his support out of Ms Gillard's bloc in the Parliament if the deal will not be honored by the Prime Minister.
Yet his declarations were met with blank reception as analysts noted that with Peter Slipper, a Liberal, installed as House Speaker and thanks to Ms Gillard's blessings, the Labor-led government worries not even an inch.
Fellow independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, both from New South Wales, have already expressed their reservations in supporting Wilkie's advocacy, effectively eliminating two more votes that the embattled MP could have counted on.
Running out of time and numbers, Wilkie sought the audience of West Australian MP Tony Crook, who belongs to the Nationals, in order to win the latter's support for the quickly-collapsing legislation.
However, a day after his meet with Wilkie, Crook announced on Tuesday that he will most likely vote against the gambling reform measure, stressing that "I am a firm believer of people taking responsibility for their own actions.
Crook told ABC News that aside from pokies being irrelevant in Western Australia since the machines are largely prohibited with the state limits, Wilkie's proposed legislation raises questions of becoming truly effective.
The only way that Crook could be swayed is if Wilkie could find a way to tweak WA's GST return, pushing it up to75 cents on the dollar from its current 72 cents.
Crook's declaration followed Ms Gillard's announcement on Sunday that the Labor Party is not supporting the gambling reform initiative, The Australian wrote.