However, in Queensland, Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said the government's policy involved ensuring the number of poker machines did not increase. In 2009, the number of pokies in clubs was capped at 24,705, with the number in hotels reduced to 19,500 in 2012. "We have stuck to that, we've made sure that we are not expanding the number of electronic gaming machines," Ms D'Ath said. Ms D'Ath was asked wheter the Palaszczuk Labor government would follow Tasmanian Labor's lead in pushing for a ban. She said pokies were "one small part" of gambling addiction.

"We're seeing much more prevalence as far as problem gambling when you look at online and how accessible online is," she said. "When someone goes and plays a pokie at their local pubs or clubs, the staff know those individuals, they know who they are, they can reach out and offer support to those individuals. "When you're sitting at home, on your computer, on your tablet, your iPad and gambling online, often people aren't seeing that at all until we see the very serious consequences, which can be marriage breakdown, which can be substance abuse, which can be losing their homes and worst case scenario, people taking their lives because their gambling addition has got so bad." Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath has not committed to following Tasmanian Labor's lead in announcing they would ban poker machines. Credit:Dave Hunt/AAP Ms D'Ath said the government was working on a statewide gaming strategy, which did not just focus on pokies.

"Our focus cannot be simply on how many machines there are in pubs and clubs, it's got to be looking at the bigger picture about gambling and especially online gambling," she said. "It's easy to just look at gambling in our community, being electronic gaming machines, but you've got to look at where the problems lie and ensure you're focusing on that." In 2017, Queenslanders lost $2.34 billion to the pokies, $63.09 million more than in 2016. That means Queenslanders lost $4448.38 every minute of the year to poker machines in 2017. Queenslanders lost $699 million in casinos, $90 million to Keno, $383 million to the lottery and $319 million wagering from January to the end of November 2017 - the most up-to-date data.

Loading Last year, Fairfax Media reported Queenslanders lost $215.57 million playing the pokies in clubs and hotels in July 2017 alone, the highest amount on record. That shocking record has since been eclipsed by the losses in August 2017, which totalled $217.16 million. In contrast, about $110 million was lost to the 2375 electronic gaming machines inside pubs and clubs across Tasmania last financial year. In 2016-17, the Queensland government received $687 million in revenue from gaming machine taxes, according to budget papers.