| KYNETON BOWLING CLUB | Country | Shire of Macedon Ranges | Club | 829,502 | 813,651 | 1,643,153 |
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Time to lose gambling addiction
I grew up in a strict, Salvation Army household where there was no drinking, smoking or gambling. My parents wore their uniforms everywhere they
went. Women wore no makeupor jewellery. Young boys like me weren’t allowed to go to the pictures.
My parents were strict but loving. I had no problem with this except the ban on movies. We kids played cards but not with ordinary playing cards. Why not? Because people might think we were gambling. So we played Snap, and Happy
Families, with cards depicting Mr Bun the baker and his family.
After I left home I gave up these old-fashioned strictures.
But they left me convinced of the damage that addiction to alcohol and gambling can do to people and, especially, their families, often deprived of enough money to live on. When the last act of the late Peta Murphy was a parliamentary inquiry calling for greater control over the scourge of on-
line betting, I was happy to join the cause. It’s way past time we stopped allowing businesses and the members of licensed clubs to benefit from the harm done to addicts and their families.
As the Grattan Institute and its chief executive Aruna Sathanapally reminded us in last week’s report, Australia has a gambling problem unmatched by other, more sensible rich countries. Our annual gambling losses exceed $1600 per adult. That’s twice what people lose in America or Britain and almost three times what our Kiwi cousins shell out. Why are our gambling losses so much greater? Not because of the romantic delusion that Aussies would gamble on “two flies crawling up a wall”, but because our governments have done less than others to protect us from people who just want to make a buck at our expense. Grattan tells us that, in total, we lose about $24 billion a year
on gambling. Half of this comes from poker machines and another quarter from betting on sport and racing. Lotteries, scratchies and casinos make up
the rest. By far the most addictive are pokies and fast-growing online betting, so these are the ones to worry about.
When it comes to politicians failing to protect us from having our susceptibilities exploited, successive NSW governments take the cake. They were the first to let licensed clubs become addicted to revenue from pokies, then let hotels have them too. But eventually, the malady spread to other states. NSW has 14 pokies per 1000 adults, ahead of Queensland on 11. More sensible Victoria has just six machines per 1000 adults, but Western Australians manage to live normal, happy lives with just 0.7 per 1000.
Poker machines were once called “one-armed bandits”. Now they’re just bandits. Although Australia has only about 0.3 per cent of the world’s population, it has 18 per cent of the world’s pokies. NSW ac-
counts for about half of that. As for online betting, its
ubiquitous ads make it the most noticeable. It’s a safe bet it will grow to be a bigger problem than today. But so far, it’s of little interest to women, with young adult men by far the most susceptible.
Now, the vast majority of people who gamble do so in moderation, and do themselves no harm. But a small minority of pokie players and online betters become addicted. Grattan quotes data from debit card useshowing that 5 per cent of gamblers account for 77 per cent of the spending. That’s what makes pokies and betting so exploitative. Addiction can harm people’s fi-
nancial security, health and broader wellbeing. Addicts can lose their jobs, smash their marriages, commit family violence, engage in fraud, be declared bankrupt and take their own lives.
I’m unforgiving of business people and club members who want to benefit from gambling and politicians who lack the courage to hold them back while turning a blind eye to all the human suffering gambling
causes. Grattan wants the feds to ban all gambling advertising and inducements, while state governments reduce the number of pokies over time.
It wants the feds to establish a national, mandatory “pre- commitment system” for all online gambling. Each state should introduce a similar precommitment scheme for pokies.Pre-commitment schemes were invented by behavioural
economists to allow us, in our more sensible moments, to impose limits on our own behaviour when we’re acting in the heat of the moment.Grattan wants such commitments to be compulsory for all people that start using clubs,pubs or online betting sites after the scheme starts. You choose the limits you want to set on your spending per day, per month and per year. You can lower those limits any time you wish, but can raise them only after a delay of at least a day. The scheme would also impose maximum limits of say, $100 a
day, $500 a month and $5000 a year.
Most gamblers would be unaffected by this scheme, but for others it would stop them ruining their lives. The clubs and clubs and big online betting
companies will tell us it would destroy the economy. Don’t be-
lieve them.
Ross Gittins is a regular
columnist.
Here’s the bigger picture from The Guardian.
A man sits at a poker machine in the gaming room at the Vikings Club in Canberra, Australia. Despite having less than half a percent of the world’s population, Australia is home to a fifth of the world’s slot machines.
How Australians became the world’s biggest gamblers
Helen Sullivan in Sydney Sun 8 Sep 2024 09.10 AESTShare
The prevalence of slot machines – known as pokies – in pubs and clubs across the country and betting on sport has created a culture of wagering
It is a quiet night in Fairfield, in Sydney’s western suburbs. Inside a small brick building, a dozen Gamblers Anonymous members help themselves to coffee, tea and miniature meat pies. The meeting is taking place in a suburb that has one of the city’s lowest median incomes, and highest levels of gambling losses. A fifth of the state of New South Wales’s 25 most profitable gaming clubs are here, according to government data.
One of these clubs, Fairfield Returned and Services League (RSL), is just a two-minute walk away. It is a building totally at odds with the modest apartment blocks and shabby train station nearby. A pedestrian walkway inside is lined with palms and ferns, it has an elaborate fountain, a grand lobby. It seems incongruous, that is, until you realise that its surroundings are its blood supply. Inside the club, just out of view of the street, are hundreds of gaming machines. Fairfield RSL and Clubs Australia did not respond to requests for comment
New South Wales is second only to Nevada – home to Las Vegas – when it comes to the number of gaming machines. New South Wales is home to about 90,000 machines, the equivalent of one for every 88 people. Nevada, with a population of 3.1 million has about 120,000.
But it is a problem throughout the country. Australia has less than 1% of the world’s population. It has 18% of the world’s poker – or slot – machines, according to the Australia Institute. The world’s biggest poker machine manufacturer is an Australian company called Aristocrat. Most of the world’s poker machines are in dedicated gaming venues, like casinos. But of those worldwide that are not, 76% are in Australia. It might be no surprise then that Australians are also the world’s biggest losers per capita, gambling away $25bn a year, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
That huge sum is in part because in Australia most gambling doesn’t takes place on big nights inside flashy casinos, it happens quietly in the pubs that sit on every street corner, or at the local RSL. In most states, a pub is more notable for not having gambling machines, known in Australia as pokies, than for having them. The only exception is Western Australia, which allows them only in casinos. It has the lowest per capita gambling losses in the country.
And online gambling can happen from anywhere. A report from Australian National University’s centre for gambling research, released in July, warned that online gambling had “exponentially increased” in Australia, with a third of survey respondents having placed a bet online in the last four months.
Most of Australia’s online gambling companies are licensed in the Northern Territory, which has lower taxes and fees. The territory is home to just 1% of Australians and an economy of $32bn. In 2023 the Guardian reported that the $50bn online betting industry was largely regulated by just six people in Darwin, its capital.
They own mateship’
Tim Costello, chief advocate at the Alliance for Gambling Reform, has compared gambling in Australia to guns in the US. Like gun control, the majority of Australians want stricter gambling advertising laws.
“63 cents in every dollar going through a poker machine comes from someone addicted,” says Costello. There are no definitive figures for the number of suicides caused by gambling in Australia, but, based on Hong Kong, which has lower gambling rates, it is likely about 20%, he says.
Recently, the national conversation over gambling has grown louder, sparked by Australia’s Labor government proposing a partial ban on gambling advertising – falling well short of recommendations from a landmark 2023 parliamentary report calling for a total ban. Some media companies have lobbied the government to impose a softer ban over concerns about ad revenue.
Meanwhile the government is facing opposition from its own backbenchers, while Independents have called for a free vote on a total ban.
“As if two tobacco ads an hour would be fine,” says Costello. Advocates recommend gambling be treated like smoking: as a health issue. Australia banned smoking ads in 1992. Today, fewer than one in ten Australians smokes daily. A 2022 survey found three-quarters had gambled in the last year.
The body representing online gambling companies is called Responsible Wagering Australia. Its CEO, Kai Cantwell told the Guardian that the organisation was “committed to reducing the exposure of children and vulnerable individuals to gambling advertising while still backing sports and broadcasters that rely on this funding. It’s crucial to strike a balance that prevents Australians from turning to illegal offshore providers”. In 2023, the Guardian announced that it would no longer accept gambling advertising.
Poker machines (pokies) at a pub in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian
If Australia has a national religion, it is sport, says Costello. And with lucrative sponsorship deals from betting companies, and high viewership for ads, sport and gambling are bound together. But there is nothing inherently Australian about gambling, says Costello.
“We have the most lax regulation of anywhere in the world. That’s all there is to it.”
Banning gambling ads would protect children, reduce domestic violence and, he says, it necessary to protect Australian culture. If you watch the sports betting ads, “They own ‘mateship’. Every ad is young men, and it’s ‘gamble with your mates’.”
A ‘dramatic increase’
The proliferation of gambling ads is a relatively recent phenomenon. When a 2008 high court ruling found in favour of a betting company, there was a “dramatic increase” in gambling advertising, according to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
“This is the first generation of parents that have had to explain to their kids watching AFL or NRL what a multi is,” says Costello referring to bets on multiple outcomes packaged into one – ultimately just offering more options to bet on.
Over the last decade, there has been a “significant increase” in the amount of gambling advertising that young people are exposed to,” says Dr Hannah Pitt, a Vic Health research fellow at Deakin University.
Her research has found that the age by which some Australian children can identify different sports betting companies is eight. The age by which they can recall specific promotions by those companies is eleven.
‘It’s everywhere’
As the GA members tell their stories, the sheer number of ways to break a gamble-free streak of a day, or six years, or 20 becomes clear. You can gamble on your phone, in pubs, clubs, and sports betting shops. You can bet on sports, politics, reality TV, horses, greyhounds, harnesses and poker machines. One man says he is proud of himself for exercising again, even though it means walking past several places every day where he could gamble.
Anti poker machine campaigners in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia Photograph: Jesse Tyssen
Attendees have lost marriages, gone to prison, gambled away their homes, lost their jobs, families, friends, and suffered drug addiction. One woman, six years gamble free, has spent the week watching her brother gamble his $40,000 of retirement savings. A man of 21 has already tried, twice, to kill himself.
When Mary*, whose name has been changed, was in her forties, her husband, then 50, was diagnosed with early onset dementia and motor neurone disease. Soon he was living in a nursing home. She started stopping in at the pub on the way home from visiting him. The pub had poker machines so she started playing. And soon, she couldn’t stop.
She had given up paid work to look after their children, and when her husband died, she sold one of their houses to make ends meet. Suddenly, she had a lot of cash on hands.
Mary started staying at gambling venues until the early hours of the morning, leaving her children, the oldest of whom was 18, the youngest six, to feed and look after themselves. Eventually, the Department of Community Services removed her children from her care.
She isn’t sure banning advertising will make a difference. There are ways to gamble “on every corner,” she says. “It’s everywhere.
Four of her children have since returned to her care, but her eldest daughter, who looked after her siblings when Mary could not, has still not forgiven her.
“I’m getting a bit worried that it’s become too big for us to re-reconcile,” she says. “But one day, I’m hoping.”
The Co-Op has been informed by one of our members that there are around ten successful bowling clubs across the ranges which do not have poker machines. One of those thriving clubs is located very close by at the Kyneton Golf Club.
Q&A ON KYNETON BOWLING CLUB RECISSION NOTICE
This is a Q&A session that the Co-Op conducted with Tom Gyorffy KC on the proposed Recission Notice being brought by Cr Jennifer Anderson to rescind a motion passed by Council to give the Kyneton Bowling Club an exemption from the ban on poker machines on Council and Government owned sites in the Macedon Ranges. In 2005 Tom was elected to Council on a platform opposing the granting of the lease to the Bowling Club. Q. Can you tell me about your election to Council in 2005? A. At that time Council had indicated an intention to grant a new lease to the Bowling Club over the site on the corner of Simpson and Mollison Streets. The Club had a poker machine licence, and a large number of residents were opposed to the lease. I was one, and I was persuaded to stand for Council to oppose the lease. I was elected to West Ward. Q. What was the issue upsetting people about the lease? A. Through its poker machines, by 2005, the Club had accumulated a nest egg of over $3m. which they wanted to use to build new club premises on the site. The concern caused by this was that the location of the Club was in the heart of Kyneton in a position that would be a magnet attracting people to play on their machines. There was the primary School and two supermarkets in the vicinity which meant a lot of people being exposed to the poker machine site. A new lease would last 20 years and so this situation would continue for decades. Q. Were there any other considerations? A. Yes. There was a concern that the new building would diminish the vista of the Mechanics Institute, and further that the property the club occupied could be better used for other public purposes. Q. What happened at Council? A. The Council was quite divided on the project. One of the things that occurred was that a meeting was held between some councillors including me, and the President and Treasurer of the Bowling Club to find an alternative to the development. Q. What happened at the meeting? A. I explained that the land concerned was owned by the State and was Subject to the Crown Lands Reserve Act , and this meant that any building erected on it would im- mediately be owned by the State of Victoria, and not the Bowling Club. Further, that because of that they could never use it for security on loans if they needed to. I sug- gested this coud put them in a precarious financial position in the future. Q. Did the Bowling Club People respond to that? A. Yes. The President said there was no appropriate alternative land. Amusingly at this point the Treasurer said: “What about that land we were looking at the other day?” The President told him “to shut up!” He went on to say that access for the members was better at that site than anywhere else. I suspect the real reason was that the site’s visibility made it a magnet for punters on the pokies. Q. What happened after the meeting? A. The permit for the new building and the new long term lease went to a meeting of Council. It was held in the main hall of the Kyneton Townhall which was packed out. The motion was passed by 5 votes to 4. As narrow a loss or win , depending on your perspective, as was possible. It did show, however even 20 years ago there was strong opposition to poker machines in the Macedon Ranges. Q. What happened after that? A. The project went ahead and a state of the art restaurant and gaming venue was built. That wobbled along until 2011. Q. What happened in 2011? A. The Bowling Club had financial difficulties and it ended up in liquidation. Q. How did the liquidation end up? A. By a stroke of luck for the Bowling Club, the liquidator managed to sell the assets, such as they were to the Maryborough Highland Society. Q. Why do you say this was “a stroke of luck” for the Bowling Club? A. The Maryborough mob were very experienced and successful in running Sports Clubs and gambling venues. If anyone could save the Kyneton situation it was the Maryborough mob. Q. Did the Maryborough mob save the Bowling Club? A. No it didn’t. For some reason, I am not aware of, they packed up and left. Thatshttps://kynetononline.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0157f4484b23c06494a9f0d41&id=8e1f43f1b3&e=8aebfba358 got to make you wonder, if experienced managers like them couldn’t make a go of it, it has to be a dead duck! Q. How is it still operating? A. What I understand is that the Club took it back over. It entered into contracts with someone to run the restaurant and someone else to run the poker machines. It would be interesting to know what the terms of those agreements are. How much is beingpaid by the contractors for access to these premises? Is the Club subletting the premises? Is that permitted under the Club’s lease? Q. So that now brings us to the motion on Monday week. What is that all about? A. As we discussed earlier the Council has developed a Gaming Policy for the Shire which prohibits the installation and use of gaming machines on Council or Govern- ment owned properties. The Bowling Club is on government owned property and would have to give up their gaming machines to stay there.It appears that the Club can’t exist without the gaming machines on its premises so it has asked for an exemption from the policy. One of the West Ward Councillors moved a motion to grant that exemption to the Bowling club and the Council passed it on a majority vote. Now Cr Anderson, who opposed the original motion has lodged a recission motion to take away the exemption. Q. What is your take on this mess? A. I have to say I am absolutely shocked at the passing of the original motion. I just cannot understand how in the context of the communities view on poker machines, and given the sad financial history of the Club , anybody could consider the motion a good idea. Q. What do you mean by “the communities view on poker machines”? A. The Macedon Ranges has a proud history on keeping poker machines to a min- imum. It began with the Romsey Hotel case. While I was on Council we opposed the Hotel getting poker machines. The Victorian Gaming Regulator overruled our de- cision and granted a licence to the Hotel owners. I argued strongly on Council that we should take the decision to the Supreme Court and have it reversed. The Council eventually voted in favour of Court action and we won. It set the import- ant principle that social consequences have to be taken into account in making de- cisions on the granting of gaming licences. It is a leading case which councils have successfully relied on. Now our Council has developed a policy to limit the machines in the shire. I am so proud of them for doing so because it represents the view of our community. Q. Is there anything else that you think was wrong with the original motion? A. Yes. Plenty of things. Q. Like what? A. First of all, it undermines all the good work of the new policy. How can council re- fuse other sporting bodies affected by it from seeking an exemption under it? Could you imagine the outcry if they tried. Why can’t we have pokies too? This is unfair discrimination! Next thing you the Council’s taken to court. Secondly, what I understand is proposed is that the Council officers somehow help the Bowling Club to come up with some other financial plan, not involving poker ma- chines. They are to be given 2 years to do that. Since when is it the Council’s functionto give financial advice to their tenants? Why are council resources to be allocated for this organisation alone? Next, suppose the council does give the help. In 2 years time the lease comes up for renewal. One of the considerations the council would have to apply is: is the Club financially viable and able to comply with its financial requirements under the lease? Given the history of financial failure of this organisation that is a very important question. How can the council make an arms length decision on that question when it is the Clubs Financial adviser? It can’t, there would be a clear conflict of interest. Finally, When the lease comes up for consideration in 2026, there is a need to con- sider whether or not the renewal of the lease represents the best value for the com- munity or whether there might more beneficial ways of using it. Remember this is a prime piece of real estate in the heart of the town which at present is an eyesore. There are many ways it could be used to benefit Kyneton. Would that even be con- sidered if the council is entwined with the Club as its financial adviser? Q. What other uses would you suggest? A. Mate isn’t that what the Co-op is about? If the bowling club land is joined with the Old Primary School land you have an entire block to work with. It would have access to Mollison St. It could be turned into a park. The Library could extend into the exist- ing club building- after all it belongs to us! We could make an art Gallery complete with cafe to house the Macedon Ranges art collection, what a destination to attract people to Kyneton. A real blessing for the traders. Something out of left field- in the Paris Olympics our kids did well in skateboarding and on BMX bikes. Lets give the kids of Kyneton the facilities to become Olympians in these sports, or just to have some fun other than on computers and smart phones. The possibilities are endless, but first the recission motion must succeed. Q. Thanks for your time, Tom A. No worries. All power to the Co-op! |
Ring your councillors and let them know you want them to vote in favour of Jennifer Anderson’s recission motion on September 16th. Let’s all turn up to the meeting.
