Earlier, Mrs Skinner defended the government's decision not to support a Labor amendment to ban smoking at the Star's high-roller room but left the door open for future action. Mrs Skinner said smoking bans have been ''incremental'' in NSW.
''We've moved gradually, step by step, until this point where we have this groundbreaking legislation,'' she said. ''It will keep going.''
Asked if she would eventually like to see smoking bans extended to the high-roller room, Mrs Skinner said: ''Who knows what will happen eventually? We've got to be consistent across the country in terms of bans on things like high-rollers' rooms.''
The Star argues that if high rollers, many of whom visit from Asia, are prevented from smoking while gambling they will take their business to where they are allowed to smoke, such as Crown in Melbourne. If the ban was implemented in NSW it would risk scuttling the vision of James Packer's Crown group for a second casino at Barangaroo to cater exclusively to high rollers.
The amendment initially had the support of the Christian Democratic Party MP Fred Nile, whose party shares the balance of power in the upper house. But after lobbying from Crown representatives, 
Reverend Nile was convinced that supporting the amendment risked the government withdrawing the entire bill, meaning the bans on outdoor areas would be lost.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/outdoor-gambling-areas-escape-new-smoking-ban-20120816-24b9r.html#ixzz23kwv3BwP