Category: gambling


Danger of underage online gambling

Filed under: children, gambling, social justice — Leave a comment
February 17, 2012

While the big guns in the battle for gambling reform are focused on policy proposals such as mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines, and the simpler but more radical option of limiting all pokies to $1 bets, spare a thought for the new generation of problem gamblers being lured and nurtured, and addicted, to online pokies and card games such as Texas Hold ’Em Poker, as young teenagers.

As the Sunshine Coast Daily reported on Thursday, unregulated online gambling has spawned an emerging group of online gamblers still too young to gamble legally.

Relationships Australia’s Sunshine Coast manager, Sue Miller, said “addiction can be quite cruel and harsh, [and] unless it’s nipped in the bud it turns into bigger problems.”  It’s estimated that one in eight adolescents who gamble are at risk of developing problem gambling.

Prevention is better than cure, but the attractions of gambling are so strong, and the political will to enforce consumer protection is simply not there.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 12 Feb 2012.

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Time to stop the loss in NSW

Filed under: gambling, NSW politics — Leave a comment
February 17, 2012

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell

With the pokies deal now off between the Prime Minister and Andrew Wilkie, it’s important to remind ourselves that it’s the job of the federal and state governments to regulate the gambling industry, reducing its negative impact on families and communities devastated by gambling addiction.

The Gillard government has indicated it will introduce a $250 daily withdrawal limit from ATMs in gaming venues from February 1, 2013; and will extend pre-commitment to online betting services.

But, as Anglican Bishop Stuart Robinson says, “we need a government that has the courage to pursue hard decisions,” and for gambling that means taking action on the Productivity Commission’s two key recommendations: a trial of mandatory pre-commitment technology and $1 bet limits for poker machines.

One thing is certain: the NSW Government led by Premier Barry O’Farrell has absolutely no intention of doing anything that might offend the powerful clubs and hotels lobby.

Barry, it’s time for some moral leadership.  It’s time to stop the loss.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 5 Feb 2012.

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Gambling industry must be restrained

Filed under: gambling, NSW politics — Leave a comment
February 12, 2012

As the Prime Minister and independent MP Andrew Wilkie continue to argue about how and when to implement poker machine reform, anti-gambling campaigners are putting more pressure on the Gillard Government to stand up to the powerful hotels and gaming industry.

One of Wollongong’s most outspoken problem gambling crusaders, Rev Sandy Grant from St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, has urged Labor MPs to show ‘‘backbone and principle’’ by pushing ahead with poker machine reform.

He called on wavering federal politicians to follow the lead of Labor MP and Revesby Workers’ Club president Daryl Melham, one of the biggest supporters of mandatory pre-commitment.

There are other important gambling issues that also need to be addressed, but if this most obvious of reforms can’t be introduced then we’re all at the mercy of the amoral gambling industry and those who gain politically from it, and the problems faced by ordinary Australian families will only grow larger and more destructive.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 22 Jan 2012.

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Father Chris Riley sells out

Filed under: gambling, social justice — Leave a comment
February 7, 2012

The founder of Youth Off the Streets, Father Chris Riley, has lent his support to a Clubs Australia advertising blitz targeting two million homes in NSW, as the gambling lobby intensifies its battle against the Gillard government’s proposed poker machine reforms.

Father Riley, whose charity receives substantial donations from gambling venues, seems at the very least to face a conflict of interest.

In my view, Riley is a traitor to the people who depend on him (both morally and materially), and an embarrassment to the Catholic Church. But here’s the rub: would any of our Christian counselling agencies continue their gambling counselling without funds provided by the clubs and hotels?  Would Christians and others fill the funding gap?

I doubt it, and both the government and the gambling industry know this.  It’s a filthy tit-for-tat arrangement where everyone wins as long as no one asks the embarrassing questions.  Everyone, that is, except those attracted to poker machines.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 18 December 2011.

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Bill Crews supports pokies reform

Filed under: gambling, social justice — Leave a comment
February 7, 2012

Sydney Uniting Church minister Rev Bill Crews

The decision by Father Chris Riley to support Clubs Australia in its fight against the federal government’s poker machine reforms has prompted a strong response from the newly formed NSW Churches Gambling Taskforce.

Rev Bill Crews, chair of the NSW Taskforce, said that counselling was an important part of helping people overcome addiction to poker machines, but preventing the problem in the first place was essential public policy.

He said “Under the reforms [being considered by the Gillard government], all players will have to decide ahead of time how much they are willing to lose.  This can be as high or low as the individual chooses.  In the cold light of day, away from the ‘zone,’ problem gamblers are telling us they are able to make sensible decisions.”

He said “Mandatory pre-commitment will, as part of a range of measures, help poker machine addicts who are ready to help themselves.  More importantly, it will help people who are at risk from developing a problem.  And that’s good public policy.”

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 18 December 2011.

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