Pokies people should just tell the truth


Clubs Australia is gearing itself up to deal with an inquiry by the Productivity Commission into gambling. The lobby group's strategy is to pretend that it really just represents a group of concerned citizens as worried as anyone else about the social cost of its product on the small minority of people who fall in to what some people call the "addicted" gambler category.
As a show of its good intentions, the president of Club Australia Peter Newell this week took to the rostrum at the National Press Club to unveil his organisation's six point plan to limit the harmful effects of gambling. Chief among them was what the press quickly dubbed the Dob in a Gambler campaign which see friends and relatives report people losing too much money too regularly to some kind of big brother body which would have the power to ban them from club premises.
It is a scheme that might sound attractive to those who do not think about it but in reality totally impractical as licensed pokie machine palaces want it to be. The gambling clubs, along with their publican colleagues, know that it is the dedicated perpetual losers who give them the majority of their ill gotten gains. Without these problem gamblers their's would not be a profitable business. They might represent just five percent or so of players but they probably represent 50 percent or so of the profits.
Now don't get me wrong. I am a believer in free will. I have personally been a bookmaker and never felt the slightest bit guilty about helping fools lose their money. In life some people are just destined to become flotsam and jestsam and there is little if anything that can be done about it by anyone other than the person themself.
What does annoy me is that people like Clubs Australia want to pretend that they are on the side of those who misguidedly think that actions of governments can change human nature with all its potentially destructive elements.
Personally I prefer the honesty that is currently being expressed in the United States state of Georgia where there is a proposal to legalise slot machines on the ballot paper for the election on the first Tuesday of November. The ordinary people are telling the pollsters that they approve of the pokies as a revenue raising measure for government with the Washington Post reporting yesterday that 62% are in favour with only 36% against and 2% undecided.
Even a third or people who believe there will be undesirable social consequences caused by the slots believe that the government should allow their introduction.
Clubs Australia should learn the lesson and stop trying to play by the rules of the Senator Nick Xenophons of the Australian political world. Just come out and tell the truth: of course there are some adverse impacts on a minority of people caused by poker machines but would you prefer to pay more taxes? The answer in Australia would be no different than in Maryland.

Comments

Daviidv said…
I have not been a supporter of either Peter Newell or Clubs Australia in the past due to their views about anti pokies paranoia. But in the last two months, they are demonstrating a willingness to change their attitudes towards problem gambling, and whilst not switching sides, they are moving in the right direction. The recommendation to provide families with at least a new opportunity to get early intervention should not be considered a fix-all solution, but please recognise the effort made to do something, and certainly, regarding the menace of online pokies, they are taking the lead where the Government is dropping the ball. Analysis of the Clubs Australia views are part of a growing collection of latest media on pokies at www.makepokiessafe.com

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