Finally revealed the Liberal Party’s grubby little secret – The shocking pokies losses for every pub and club in Tasmania

The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, is releasing further data on poker machine losses at Tasmania’s hotels and clubs.

This Treasury data, which is attached, has until now never been publicly released.

“When I revealed the most 20 harmful poker machine venues earlier this month, Tasmanians were quite rightly shocked,” Mr Wilkie said.

“Now that this more detailed data is out there for all to see, it paints an even grimmer picture of just how much money is sucked out of communities and lost in these venues. And it confirms that big business is the big winner from gambling addiction because the same names pop up over and over again.

“Even pubs with apparently small totals have a significant impact, simply because they draw their losses from a small community.

“I’m releasing this data because it’s in the public interest and Tasmanians have a right to know how much is being taken from their local community by poker machines. Just think of what this $113 million could do for these communities if it wasn’t going into the pockets of the pokies barons.

“It’s not good enough for the poker machine industry to try and discredit the figures by saying they don’t know where they come from, because they know full well how much the venues harvest and the fact that these figures are accurate. To try and say otherwise would be a bold-faced lie.

“We know that poker machines cause incredible harm in the community including suicide, crime, childhood poverty and domestic violence. The only solution is to get the machines out of the suburbs.”