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Sydney's newsagents have described the NSW government's plan to open up lottery sales to supermarkets as the "last straw" for the struggling industry.
Lyn Jin and her husband Chao Chang started their first news kiosk on the streets of the Sydney CBD in 1993, after fleeing China as political refugees following the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Two decades later, they are contemplating the end of their life's work – a newsagency in Warriewood shopping centre.
The dire predicament comes as the moratorium on supermarkets selling lottery tickets is scheduled to end on April 1.
"If the lottery goes to the huge supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths, then we will have nothing left," said Mrs Jin, who was a lecturer in microeconomics at Shanghai University before fleeing to Australia. "It is the only thing that gives people a reason to go to newsagencies."
"You can buy everything anywhere else. Our magazine and stationery revenue has been down 30 per cent since 2008. We won't have any choice but to sell up."
On Wednesday NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance is expected to announce that by not expanding the sale of lottery tickets beyond newsagents, the state stood to lose up to $1 billion in revenue.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley announced on Tuesday that, if elected, he would extend the moratorium so that newsagents remained the "primary retailer of lottery products".
Veteran Pittwater newsagent Jeffrey Johnson, who has owned seven newsagencies over a 30-year period, said he has seen the industry change many times.
"We used to be the only people who could sell newspapers, it's quite a bit different now, everything is on the internet."
The 72-year-old hopes the government takes up Mr Foley's suggestion and extends the moratorium, "but if they don't, we will battle through like we always have".
"I doubt many people will see it as convenient to go into a supermarket to buy a $2 lottery ticket. Newsagencies are about coming in and chatting and seeing friendly faces."
Both Mr Johnston and Mrs Jin entered the newsagency game because it was seen as a relatively "low-risk investment".
"It has never been high income, but it was always stable," said Mrs Jin.
Time is now running out for the industry on shaky ground, with the moratorium due to expire in under three months.
The chief executive of the NSW Newsagents Association, Andrew Packham, urged the NSW government to give newsagents more time.
"It is like an anvil hanging over the head of all newsagents in NSW," said Mr Packham.
"We are asking all political parties to take this drop-dead date off the table and give us the time to reach a sensible outcome."