The fallout from the current proposals by the Federal Government and Tasmanian Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, for mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines – a ‘licence to punt’ – goes far deeper than its impact on the Australian club and hotel industries.
Not only is it un-Australian to require Australians to have a ‘licence to punt’, its also un-Australian that one person, who won a seat in Federal parliament in Australia’s smallest state with a virtual handful of votes, is now dictating the run of play in this country’s politics. For the record, Andrew Wilkie’s 13,788 primary votes — less than most medium to large clubs have members — placed him third and represented just 21.26 per cent of the voting population in his own electorate of Denison, and a mere 0.0978 per cent of the enrolled voting population of this country.
That he can now virtually hold the Government and the entire country to ransom over whether the population can play legal entertainment with their own legally hard earned money is an assault on our democratic rights and a way of life for which so many fought. One only has to ask what next will Mr Wilkie demand — perhaps a licence to buy a beer or have a smoke. Voters in this country should be outraged that our fundamental ‘freedom of choice’ is being eroded by one man and they should be voicing their opinion to their local Member of Parliament to ensure such madness doesn’t happen again.
It’s also time that the Prime Minister called Mr Wilkie to order and reminded him who is supposed to be running the country.
Graeme Carroll
CEO, RSL and Services Clubs
