Labor leader Rebecca White needs to come out of hiding and explain Labor’s position on pokies.
If she won’t even talk about the big issues in opposition, how can you trust her to deal with the big issues if she became Premier? That’s not leadership, that’s just inexperience – plain and simple.
Yesterday, Labor MP Madeleine Ogilvie said that she wants pokies banned in some parts of Tasmania. Is that Labor’s policy? Will Labor compensate the pubs and clubs that would be affected? Which parts of Tasmania would pokies be banned from?
Instead of coming out and addressing this issue, Ms White is in hiding and has forced Scott Bacon to try and explain the split in Labor’s ranks.
The reason why Ms White is in hiding is because she is running a so-called ‘small target’ strategy. Any time there is an uncomfortable issue to deal with, she will run away and make one of her colleagues deal with it.
The Liberals’ position on pokies is clear.
We will reduce the number of machines in Tasmania by 150 and put in place a cap, so it can’t increase. We’ve put in place a community interest test, which will apply to any application for a new pokie venues and we are going to end the exclusive deal with Federals and put the pokie licence to the market when the current deal expires. We’ve outlined our position and it’s being looked at by a Parliamentary Inquiry.
It's time Rebecca White outlined Labor’s position.