Anti gambling advocate Nick Xenophon will move a private member's bill banning ATMs from pubs and clubs with poker machines as one of his first acts as a new senator.
The South Australian senator, who will take up his position from July 1, said tackling the problem of easy access to cash around poker machines would top his agenda.
"That's one of the first things I'll be doing," Senator Xenophon told Sky News.
"I'll be putting up a private members bill and I've been heartened by what the prime minister has said about the impact of poker machines.
"He knows what the impact is on families, he knows what it does to families, and I'd like to think that there'll be bipartisan support for some measures to tackle this head on."
Senator Xenophon said evidence given to the Productivity Commission showed a clear link between ATMs in poker machine venues and gambling addiction.
"Non-problem gamblers don't need to use an ATM," he said.
"I don't have a problem with EFTPOS facilities being used in pubs so people can buy their drinks, their meals, their accommodation, but there's a very clear link between the two.
"In Tasmania they don't have ATMs in pubs and clubs and their losses per machine, their per capita losses in Tasmania, are significantly less than the rest of the country.
"So we've got proof in the pudding in that in Tasmania they seem to be doing the right thing there and why can't we replicate that in the rest of the country?"
Senator Xenophon said 250,000 Australians had a gambling problem because of poker machines.
"We know from the Productivity Commission that for every problem gambler there are seven people affected by that, so close to one in 10 Australians are in some way worse off because of the gambling, the pokies bug, and that's something that we need to tackle," he said.
