The decision by The Greens to support the watered down poker machine law changes sounds like a monumental cave-in to me. The test of pre-commitment to be run in the ACT will no doubt be fiddled to come up with the conclusion that it doesn’t work, so there’s no point proceeding with it. The limit of $250 for ATM withdrawals is also pathetic – $250 is more than a week’s income for some people. The fact is the ALP is heavily in debt to the gambling lobby, as many clubs donate money to the ALP, which means Labor are feeding off the misery of addicted gamblers, just like the poker machine lobby does. The biggest victims of poker machine addiction are the poorer sections of the community (that’s one reason they’re poor) the very people Labor and the Greens claim to specially represent. We don’t need the Gambling Research centre because we know already how bad gambling is.
Giving gamblers the choice of pre-commitment is a waste of time, as they have the choice of playing or not playing already, and addicts can’t make that right choice. Remember – the clubs and pubs make money out of irresponsible gambling, so why should they be trying to stop it? Apart from that, Nick Xenophon says the laws are a cop-out, and that’s good enough for me.
Bob Vinnicombe
