U-turn on gaming is a loser for Julia Gillard

AUSTRALIAN prime minister Julia Gillard’s grip on power was looking increasingly tenuous yesterday after a key independent withdrew his support for her minority government.

Andrew Wilkie announced he had ended his 17-month-old agreement with the centre-left Labor Party government after Gillard broke a promise to him to introduce legislation that would create controls on slot machines.

His defection leaves Gillard with control of 75 of the 150 seats in the country’s House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties form governments. This means Gillard could lose power if Labor loses a single by-election and the opposition unites politicians outside her coalition.

“I regard the prime minister to be in breach of the written agreement she signed, leaving me no option but to honour my word and end my current relationship with her government,” Wilkie said.

“I’m very let down, and I think a lot of Australians are feeling very let down by the prime minister,” he added.

Wilkie wants legislation that would force gamblers to set a limit on how much they are prepared to lose before they start playing slot machines.

The aim is to reduce the losses of addicts.