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.
iDigress 