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Premier Chris Minns is facing a concerted internal push to significantly reduce the number of poker machines in NSW, with senior figures from left and right Labor factions saying the government has not done enough to overhaul gambling laws during its first term.
Labor’s left has agreed to prioritise a proposal to halve the number of poker machines across the state over a decade at the state conference in July.
Moved by Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, the proposal would bind Labor to a policy to cut at least 45,000 machines over the next decade, and it was endorsed for prioritisation by the left faction at its delegates’ conference on the weekend.
But it has already received influential cross-factional support from Labor’s newly preselected upper house candidate and Unions NSW boss Mark Morey, who said his likely election next year would not stop him urging the Minns government to take a stronger line on pokies.
“One thing we’ve learnt over the last few years is there has got to be a reduction in the number of machines and, honestly, if you have more than 20 poker machines you’re a casino and you should be regulated like a casino,” he said.
Gambling reform emerged as a major issue before the last state election after former premier Dominic Perrottet committed to making all poker machines in NSW cashless. Facing a sustained lobbying effort from clubs and hotels, Labor in opposition would only agree to trial the technology.
Almost 18 months after its release, the government is yet to respond to recommendations from the expert panel it set up to run the trial but has indicated it is unlikely to adopt cashless gaming.
At the same time, punters lost a record $9.3 billion on NSW poker machines in 2025, and the financial crimes watchdog has launched action against two suburban mega-clubs in a crackdown on money laundering.
While the government had defended its gambling reforms and pointed to changes – including stripping dozens of clubs of an exemption to a mandatory six-hour shutdown period, reducing the number of poker machine entitlements by about 3000 and reducing cash input limits – senior figures within the party are disappointed by its lack of significant action on an issue they see as key to the party’s social justice ethos.
Byrne, an influential left-faction figure in NSW whose inner west council overlaps with the federal seat of Grayndler held by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, said the “vast majority” of pokie losses was coming “out of the pockets of people in working class and low-income communities – the very people Labor exists to represent”.
“Overwhelmingly, Labor Party members and the general public want to see the government take action to reduce harm from poker machines,” he said
“An ethical issue of such importance can no longer be left to the state parliamentary party to decide. It’s time that our whole party faced up to the damage this scourge is causing to our people.”
Morey, who as Unions NSW boss helped set up Labor for Gambling Reform, a group that calls for stronger action by the ALP on gambling at a state and federal level, said the NSW government had not done enough.
“The cashless machine trial was just another failure. I don’t think it was ever set up to deliver,” he said.
While receiving priority backing from left delegates does not guarantee Byrne’s motion will win factional support for debate at conference, it’s not the only reform proposal under consideration.
Unions NSW has its own, as do several local ALP branches that have adopted Labor for Gambling Reform’s policy package, which includes a moratorium on new poker machine licences and a five-year, 25,000 reduction in machines.
While Byrne’s plan would mean pubs and clubs receive taxpayer transition support, Unions NSW’s proposal would mean the $1 billion in gambling tax concessions that go to major clubs would be redirected to compensate for the loss of poker machine licences.
The motion says compensation should be “minimal given the historic profits already made from those poker machines”.
“If the Laundys can afford to buy 2GB, it’s not from serving pub meals and beers,” he said.
While significant action on poker machines faces intense opposition from the powerful clubs lobby, both Byrne and Morey said it was wrong to equate reform with being anti-gambling.
“My parents were both lifelong punters on horse racing. They liked to do the form and back their own judgment. It was only after my dad had dementia that he started playing the pokies,” Byrne said. “After that he’d sit there on pension day and keep slapping that button until all his fortnight’s pay was gone.”
