Australia's next parliament could present an opportunity to advance gambling reform

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said he was encouraged by signs that showed that the Nick Xenophon Team could win as many as four Senate seats and perhaps a Lower House seat at the election.

The Greens, like Senator Xenophon and Wilkie, are in favour of gambling reform as well. They are also in a tight race to pick up a second Lower House seat.

"We could have quite an unprecedented situation where a large number of key crossbenchers in both houses of Parliament do have a genuine, deep interest in reform," Wilkie told AM.

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If it is a power-sharing parliament, it is quite possible we will have a number of key players who are quite committed to substantial poker machine reform,Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said

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Senator Xenophon said that a poker machine reform remained a key priority for his party. "It will always at the top of my agenda. Predatory gambling is [a] litmus test of good government," he said. "If a government is prepared to sacrifice literally hundreds of thousands of individuals because of gambling policies that allow this level of harm, then what else is going wrong?"

Poker machine regulation fell off the agenda when former prime minister Julia Gillard turned her back on a deal with Wilkie to introduce strong reforms in 2012.

Wilkie had agreed to support Gillard to form government in the hung parliament that resulted from the 2010 election. With polls tightening in this year's election, the prospect of another hung parliament — one with more anti-pokies campaigners on the crossbench — is enticing for Wilkie.

"I do see a wonderful opportunity in the next parliament," he said. "If it is a power-sharing parliament, it is quite possible we will have a number of key players who are quite committed to substantial poker machine reform."

Senator Xenophon described that scenario as a "one-in-a-million chance."

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appeared to countenance such a prospect when he urged voters to avoid the "chaos" of another hung parliament by voting against the Nick Xenophon Team and the Greens. "I'm surprised that Mr Turnbull is such a panic merchant," Senator Xenophon said.