Andrea Dawkins MP | Greens Gambling spokesperson
The finances of many Tasmanians look very bleak in the light of Treasury's pokie loss figures for December.
Tasmanians lost close to $16M on poker machines in December, almost half a million dollars more than the previous month.
To add insult to injury, December figures indicate slowed retail spending, and employment rates that got nowhere near the Christmas-kick they have in previous years.
These machine are parasitic, draining millions from the people who can least afford it.
As usual, areas such as Glenorchy and Clarence continue to see poker machine losses climbing. December showed Glenorchy's losses alone totalling over $300K more than 10 other municipalities combined.
Many of the areas with the biggest losses are also the poorest. The sad reality for Tasmania is that poker machines continue to bleed money from those who need it the most.
The government needs to deal with the state's pokie addiction and put people in need before their friends, Federal Hotels.