You know NSW Labor is in trouble when Bob Carr starts criticising them.

So, the state government, notoriously dependent on gaming revenues, scraps a policy of continuous increase in the excise on those same revenues. Surely, this is self-defeating. Well, yes, but it may have its logic. Dependency on the gaming industry could conceivably lead to concessions to it, particularly if there is a belief that raising taxes beyond a certain point will harm revenues.