The federal government's poker machine reforms will involve an enormous amount of red tape given the relatively small number of problem gamblers, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.
Clubs and pubs are fighting a proposal that would force pokies players to sign up for registration cards on which they then set loss limits.
Labor has promised to introduce the mandatory pre-commitment scheme by 2014 in exchange for independent MP Andrew Wilkie supporting its minority government.
But Mr Abbott has concerns about the plan.
"It does seem like an enormous amount of red tape and bureaucracy given that there is a relatively small numbers of problem gamblers," he told the Macquarie Radio Network.
"The last thing I want to see is people putting their livelihood through poker machines but we've got to address this in ways that don't further damage the social fabric.
"And clubs, and to a lesser extent pubs, are an important part of that social fabric."
Mr Abbott said the lobby group GetUp - which is running an ad campaign in support of the pre-commitment scheme - appeared to be a "Labor front".
"Can GetUp point to anything that they have done which hasn't been to support the Labor Party? I don't think they can."
Front page
RSS Feed