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News Corp, Perrottet and pokies, what’s the scam?

by Michael West | Feb 7, 2023 | What's the scam?

Two days after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet delivers the biggest gambling reform pitch in decades, a tactical swipe at Labor leader Chris Minns which may even decide the election and News Corp is still dead silent.

What’s the scam? Are they working up their ad and sponsorship deal with ClubsNSW and the pokies lobby? Surely it can’t be sour grapes that the Liberals dropped the scoop to the SMH on Sunday night? Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is pushing into online gambling globally, so that’s a thing, but the silence on pokies is interesting.

Perrottet has vowed to introduced a cashless gaming card for pokies machines in NSW, wedging Opposition leader Chris Minns whose pokies policy includes a limited “trial” for a card in a few venues. Unlike say fossil fuels policy where the major parties are virtually indistinguishable on gas fracking and coal, this is a huge policy divergence.

News backs Coalition parties, almost without exception, all the way. It’s basically the communications arm of the Liberal Party but it doesn’t like to go off half cocked so perhaps they are still fine-tuning their election strategy. NSW voters go to the polls on March 25.

The pokies lobby has sworn to fight it. Left wing media like the Guardian is backing it, Perrottet has staked his political survival on it but still silence from News. How will they fall? Perhaps they just can’t face agreeing with the Teals and the Greens, on anything.

Michael West headshot

Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.

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