Fr Chris Riley angers church leaders with anti-poker reform stance

Clubs Australia hinted that it had a trump card up its sleeve, but we couldn't have predicted this one. The clubs have managed to get one of Sydney's most respected religious leaders to front their campaign against Andrew Wilkie's poker machine reforms.

Father Chris Riley, Youth off the Streets founder and NSW Australian of the Year, has put his name to a new Clubs Australia flyer in which he declares that mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines will not help problem gamblers and will strip money from charities.

"I'm greatly concerned that in making clubs spend $3 billion to install the technology, all the Government will actually achieve is to put people out of work and strip money from the charities and sporting groups that clubs support," he says on the flyer, adding that the only way to treat problem gambling is through counseling and education.

Riley was in meetings this morning and unable to respond to questions from The Power Index before today's deadline. However a spokesperson from Youth off the Streets confirmed that clubs do contribute a small amount of money to the charity, which accounts for around 0.2% of their annual budget.

Riley's comments are at odds with the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, which represents heads of Australian Christian churches. Taskforce chairperson Tim Costello recently reiterated the group's support for poker machine reform, and his confidence that such reforms will pass through the House of Representatives. 

Reverend Bill Crews, who heads up the NSW chapter of the Gambling Taskforce, told The Power Index this morning that Riley's stance goes against the beliefs of almost all church leaders. "This [pro poker machine reform] is the first time all the churches as leaders have got together, even the Catholic Church. And we can't usually agree on anything!" he said.

"Chris Riley is my great friend. We've argued through things a lot, but I'm really disappointed he's come out like that."

Paul O'Callaghan, executive director of Catholic Social Services Australia, told The Power Index he was concerned by Riley's stance that suggests counseling can solve the problem. "We believe it's unfortunate that Father Riley has lined up with the clubs to deal with one component of the equation," he said.

"They [Clubs Australia] feel they've got an 'ace' [by getting Riley on board] but nothing has changed in the sense that there are still 95000 people who are affected by gambling, as well as their families who are adversely affected. To do nothing more than offer additional counseling will not solve that problem."

Costello told AAP this morning that Riley's support for the Clubs Australia campaign could be a conflict of interest, given the financial support Youth off the Streets receives from clubs. "The test is to find people who are independent, who are not getting any money," he said.

Clubs Australia president Anthony Ball, who was named No. 6 on our most powerful lobbyists list, recently flagged that he would refocus his lobbying efforts around a more positive agenda to show clubs take problem gambling seriously.

The latest flyer featuring Riley is being distributed to 3 million households across 46 electorates held by either Labor MPs or independents.