“Rattenbury is caught between a rock and a hard place. As Gaming Minister he works within the constraints of a government. As Leader of the Greens, he is committed to gambling reform,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

Labor MLA Dr Marisa Paterson is caught between a rock and a hard place. The dilemma she faces is illustrative of the challenges of party politics.

Ironically, the ACT Greens, who have been attacking her credibility on the issue of gambling reform, are in a similar position. 

None more so than the Gaming Minister Shane Rattenbury.

On April 10 their Facebook page attacked Dr Paterson with “why is Labor blocking gambling reform?” and “has it got anything to do with their clubs?”

The site quotes gambling reformer Kate Seselja stating: “Canberra’s gambling industry must be rubbing their hands with glee over the desire of Marisa Paterson, a Labor MLA, to defer action to reduce gambling harm in the ACT”.

Labor has long had a conflict of interest regarding gambling. A series of linked clubs produce significant revenue for the party coffers. Gambling has, to a large extent, funded ACT Labor’s political campaigns since self-government. 

Gambling in the ACT has also contributed to federal Labor funding from before self-government.

The dilemma for Dr Paterson is that she must work within a party structure that relies on money from gambling. Dr Paterson is personally committed to reducing harm associated with gambling. 

However, to achieve her goals, she must first persuade her own party of the need for action. Only then will she be able to drive change through the Assembly.

Her PhD examined gambling harm in remote indigenous communities. Before being elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly, Dr Paterson was the director of gambling research at ANU.

The ACT Greens look like Pontius Pilate. They cannot wash their hands of gambling. As Gaming Minister, Rattenbury has released a discussion paper early in this electoral cycle. 

With much fanfare, he has also introduced a bill into the Legislative Assembly to reduce the number of poker machines in the ACT. These can hardly be called major reforms.

He argued: “In addition to reducing the number of poker machines, we also need to implement harm-reduction measures to limit the losses people can experience on machines. 

“It’s for this reason that we’re currently testing the market for a ‘central monitoring system’, which would allow for the introduction of measures such as bet limits and loss limits.”

While the Greens are “testing the market”, Dr Paterson initiated her “Bets Off – Game On” campaign and has also been on the streets running a sustained campaign to protect the Molonglo Valley from ever having poker machines. 

With the government predicting some 70,000 people to live in the Molonglo Valley, this would be a major harm-reduction strategy.

In an emotional response to the Greens, Dr Paterson told the Assembly that Minister Rattenbury “has sat on his hands and done nothing in the last two years” and “there has been no reform” on gambling issues. 

Her concerns include “the lack of transparency and accountability of the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission”.

She said: “All of these things that upset me now – they were the same three and a half years ago at the start of the term. Nothing has changed”. 

Nothing has changed! And the minister responsible is the Leader of the Greens – the group that has attacked Dr Paterson. How ironic?

Dr Paterson continued defending herself from the attack by the ACT Greens arguing against “an incompetent minister who has not delivered on his portfolio this term” and “there has been no reform or progress on these issues. And that’s not good enough. There is some serious self-reflection needed by the ACT Greens and Minister Rattenbury – are they into this gambling policy space just for elections, or for the real deal change? Track records will tell”.

The gauntlet has been thrown down to the Greens. 

Party politics does create these dilemmas. Rattenbury is also caught between a rock and a hard place. 

As Gaming Minister, he works within the constraints of a government. As Leader of the Greens he is committed to gambling reform. 

It would be so much better if the Greens were working constructively with Marisa Paterson. 

Rather than attacking, they should be looking for ways to collaborate and to strengthen her hand in dealing with her Labor Party machine.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.