The chairman of the Uniting Church regional council, Ivan Peterson, worries about the impact of poker machines.
The 20th anniversary of the introduction of poker machines to Victoria triggers my reflection of their impact on the community.
There are 621 machines in the municipality of Whittlesea, 40 more coming to Mernda and 50 in Whittlesea township.
There is no cap on the number of pokies in Whittlesea township (and the northern area of the municipality), which means authorities make arbitrary decisions on the granting of extra licences, as has been done with the granting of 40 new machine licences at Mernda’s Bridge Inn Hotel.
The City of Whittlesea has taken a stand against extra pokies at Whittlesea Bowls Club by taking its opposition to the club’s bid for 10 extra machines to the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal. But it needs to be vigilant on behalf of the community against the threat of applications from other venues, including hotels. Statistics show that losses at hotels are more than twice as high per machine than at clubs.
Do we genuinely need more gambling machines? Are there queues of people waiting to get to a vacant machine at venues? Do venue operators want more machines for the good of the community – or for other reasons?
While total losses are on the increase, the actual numbers of players has gone down, which means fewer individuals are losing more. The loss for the average player is $12,000 a year.
Of the $2.8 million lost in the township of Whittlesea last financial year, it is estimated that 40 per cent – well over $1 million – was lost by a small number of people. When more than $1 million is lost by problem gamblers in this small community, we do not need more machines.
People struggling to rebuild their lives after natural disasters don’t need increased exposure to risk and opportunity for loss.
The impact of problem gambling isn’t limited to the individual who loses the money. Up to 10 people can be directly affected, including families, employers and friends, and possible criminal acts and tragic suicides can result.
Please, no more pokies for Whittlesea.
