Category: gambling


NSW Government should serve the people

Filed under: ethics, gambling, NSW politics — Leave a comment
April 16, 2012

The gambling industry has claimed victory in the war against poker machines, and in its relentless efforts to coax more and more Australian families and communities into parting with cash they cannot do without.

The Gillard Government, despised beyond redemption by many Australians, breathed a sigh of relief when Clubs Australia decided it was happy with proposed watered-down reforms that will do little to help people at risk of gambling addiction.

And the cost to the clubs was just $3.5 million.

But it’s a hollow victory.  The clubs and hotels may have won a battle, but they will not win the war.

The churches and community organisations backing gambling reform will never accept defeat.  We will continue fighting on behalf of ordinary people to stop the loss, and we will not rest until the gambling industry is brought to its knees by state and federal governments that serve the people rather than their corporate sugar daddies.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 15 Apr 2012.

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More facts about poker machines

Filed under: gambling — Leave a comment
April 16, 2012

What the NSW clubs and hotels don’t want us to hear is the facts about poker machines and gambling addiction.

Like the fact that around one in five patients seen by some of Australia’s hospital emergency departments is a problem gambler.

Or the fact that the poker machine industry receives 40 per cent of its revenue from people with a gambling addiction, which is why they’ve spent millions to stop real reform.

Or the fact that the gambling industry likes to talk up its contribution to the community, but they actually receive more in tax breaks from your tax dollars than they can ever give back.

Public opinion research shows the vast majority of Australians support poker machine reform.  The 88 per cent of Australians who never bet more than $1 per spin won’t be affected by  these reforms. But they will make a huge difference for Australian families struggling with poker machine addiction.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 1 Apr 2012.

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The facts about poker machines

Filed under: gambling, NSW politics — Leave a comment
April 16, 2012

What the NSW clubs and hotels don’t want us to hear is the facts about poker machines and gambling addiction.

Like the fact that Australia’s high loss poker machines are designed to be addictive, and Australia has the fastest, highest loss machines in the world.  No other country has as many dangerous, high loss poker machines as we do.

A player can lose an average of $1200 per hour on a standard Australian poker machine.  For many people, that means losing their jobs, their homes, their families – even their lives.

This madness needs to end.  It’s time for some common sense reform, and the Gillard Government is proving remarkably resistant to both common sense and the specific needs of vulnerable Australians at risk of gambling addiction.

If the federal government doesn’t have the guts to take action, then it’s time for state leaders like Barry O’Farrell to take the initiative.  It’s time to stop the loss.  There is nothing voluntary about gambling addiction.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 25 Mar 2012.

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Time to force action on gambling

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

In recent years we have seen:

  • an expansion of gambling facilities in all Australian states
  • the entrance of significant commercial players to the industry
  • increasing reliance on gambling revenue for state budgets
  • diversion of resources from families to the gambling industry
  • increased access to gambling for people at risk of addiction

In 2010, the Productivity Commission published a major report on gambling, noting that Australians spend around $19 billion a year on gambling, while problem gamblers lose more than $4.7 billion a year.  And governments in Australia make about $5 billion a year from gambling taxes. 

Various players have proposed measures aimed at better industry regulation and improved consumer protection, but reform has proved difficult because of the resources available to the industry, and the degree to which state and federal governments and politicians are captive to pressure from the pokies lobby. 

The time has now come to stop the loss and force industry reform.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 4 Mar 2012.

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Gambling reform in NSW

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

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Gambling reform has been headline news again this week with independent MP Andrew Wilkie and the Greens claiming they won’t support the Gillard Government’s reform bills, putting at risk the proposed trial of pre-commitment technology in the ACT.

But to be successful, gambling reform must engage the states.  NSW has around 50 per cent of the nation’s poker machines, and more problem gamblers than any other state.  NSW also has a stable government, strong informed political voices, and the numbers needed to achieve reform.

No one genuinely concerned about the impact of problem gambling on individuals and communities in NSW wants to wait for a federal inquiry to report on federal issues.  This is an issue for the states and NSW should take the lead.

The NSW Council of Churches supports mandatory pre-commitment technology and a $1 maximum bet limit for poker machines, and has called on the NSW Government to hold a wide-ranging inquiry into the gambling industry.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 4 Mar 2012.

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