Abbott rejects move on poker machines

Recommendations for betting limits on poker machines won't stop problem gambling, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.
Mr Abbott said any attack on problem gambling must also target on-line betting to be successful.
"One of the whole difficulties with stopping problem gambling by attacking poker machines is that problem gamblers don't just go to the pokies," Mr Abbott told reporters in Adelaide on Friday.
"They gamble at casinos and increasingly they gamble on-line.
"Any attack on problem gambling that doesn't also deal with online gambling will be completely ineffectual."
An inquiry into problem gambling has backed the phasing in of new technology from 2014 to limit the amount of money that an individual can put through pokies.
The inquiry was triggered by Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie, whose deal to deliver minority government to Labor last year included a promise to tackle the growing problem of pokies addiction.
The joint parliamentary committee report, tabled on Friday, said it was possible to put in place new technology - known as a mandatory pre-commitment system - by 2014.
But Mr Abbott said if the government adopted the recommendations it would not meet the commitments it made to Mr Wilkie.