The controversial topic of Video Poker is causing infighting in the Australian state of Tasmania. Tasmanian Labor leader Rebecca White is coming under fire for giving up her hard-line stance against pokies.

White told ABC that Labor would no longer fight to remove video poker machines from pubs and clubs, simply because they lost the last elections in March 2018, and Premier Will Hodgman is pushing ahead with his goal to negotiate a new license for the machines. She said:

“The fact of the matter is once they [bring forward legislation], we’re not going to be able to continue to pursue our policy to remove poker machines from pubs and clubs because there’ll be a new deal struck until 2043.”

Not one to let an opportunity pass him by, Hodgman has accused White of flip-flopping, possibly due to pressure from her federal party members. He said, “It’s a little ironic that Rebecca White, who said this was a most passionate interest of hers and a concern that she believed in, has now abandoned that policy position and is calling on us to rush through legislation to implement a policy that they opposed at the election.”