1 March 2018

Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns has taken personal responsibility for the retailer's response to its pokies scandal, describing allegations that company-owned pubs used personal information to encourage gambling as concerning....

"I am determined as the chairman of Woolworths, as is the board, that we will get to the bottom of this," he said.

...Cairns said, if ALH Group was found to have acted improperly, "both parties will fix it".

Any potential demerger of the ALH Group business would be complicated and costly....

The ALH Group, a joint venture between Woolworths and billionaire businessman Bruce Mathieson, runs hundreds of venues with more than 12,000 poker machines nationally...