A war of words has broken out in Tasmania over how many jobs would be lost if poker machines are stripped from pubs and clubs — a promise made by Labor ahead of the state election on March 3.
Mr Gutwein is wrong. Tasmania's gaming industry did not say thousands of jobs would be lost. The Treasurer relied on a gaming industry survey, which predicted 1,038 jobs would be lost. He also relied on the gaming industry's rough calculation that, in total, 5,100 jobs would be "affected" — meaning jobs would be impacted through reduced hours, changed duties or lost altogether. Experts have called into question the methodology of the gaming industry's survey. And, in an unusual admission, a gaming industry representative told Fact Check the industry was aware that some people engaged in public debate had misinterpreted the numbers — wrongly believing that about 5,100 jobs would be lost, when in fact the survey had indicated only 1,038 would go. He acknowledged the misrepresentation had not been corrected on the public record. A report commissioned by the Tasmanian Department of Treasury and Finance says reliable data on employment in the gambling industry are not collected by governments or industry. These numbers indicate gaming-related employment levels in pubs and clubs run in the hundreds of jobs rather than thousands. The Treasury report refers to a number of other studies that have examined the extent of employment in Tasmania's gambling industry, either calculating job numbers or full-time equivalents. Such calculations take into account the numbers of full-time jobs and part-time jobs. These studies also indicate that employment in the gaming industry totals hundreds of jobs rather than thousands.
Fact check: Will removing poker machines from Tasmanian pubs and clubs cost thousands of jobs?
['Tasmania', 'Australian_Labor_Party']