Pokie warnings to be scrapped in removal of Julia Gillard reforms Plans to have warning messages on poker machine screens have been scrapped. NEW laws will stop warnings flashing up on poker machines telling players of the cost and harm of problem gambling. And a trial of mandatory precommitment technology in the ACT - where people would have to nominate how much they were prepared to lose before playing - will not go ahead. The Abbott Government has moved to overturn laws brought in by the Labor ­government a year ago, ­instead promising to pursue voluntary precommitment and more counselling for problem gamblers. The Gillard government's laws were criticised as being a watered-down version of what it had promised then-key crossbencher and anti-gambling crusader Andrew Wilkie in exchange for his support in the Parliament. But Mr Wilkie and the Greens are angry the Government will scrap the laws as one of its first acts. Messages on the potential cost and harm of poker machines had been due to flash on to playing screens from ­December 2018 to warn people as they fed in their money. And checks on the industry by the Productivity Commission and a National Gambling Regulator will not be required. A nationwide ban on withdrawing more than $250 from ATMs in gambling areas apart from casinos, due to kick in on February 1, will also be dumped. But that will not affect Victoria, which already has its own laws on maximum ATM withdrawals. Mr Wilkie questioned whether the Government cared for the country's 95,000 problem gamblers or only its revenue. Greens Senator Richard Di Natale said it was cruel to axe the modest reforms. "That one of the Abbott Government's first Bills gives the pokies industry everything it wants, at the expense of vulnerable families, tells you everything you need to know about this Government," Dr Di Natale said. But Mr Abbott said he was only keeping the Liberals' election promises. "We support voluntary precommitment, more counselling for problem gamblers, and we will implement stronger restrictions on online gambling," he said. A government spokeswoman said the states were capable of their own regulations.