Restaurant and bar owners say a plan by the Department of Internal Affairs to publish the amount of cash taken in by pokie machines at each venue creates a public "shopping list" for thieves, and the harm could be catastrophic.
Six weeks ago the department announced it would begin publishing the money taken at each site, despite refusing to give that information out under the Official Information Act in 2012 because it would "likely endanger the safety of persons".
Emma Hatton reports.
