EDITORIAL It is well known how problem gambling affects individuals, families and communities. | theage's view
The Dorset Gardens Hotel in Croydon is not exactly a household name outside Croydon, but it nevertheless occupies a unique place in the history of our state:
became the first Victorian venues to offer pokie machines after the Labor government legalised them in 1991.Louie DouvisJoan Kirner even made a media appearance at Essendon’s Windy Hill social club, tentatively feeding in a coin or two for the camerasThey were different times. Victoria was struggling with high unemployment, the State Bank had to be sold following the Tricontinental disaster and there was a hope that pokies would contribute to an economic recovery.
And while there appeared to be strong public support at the time – with crowds queuing and cheering on opening day – the government did not rush in entirely blindly, warned by the landmark Murray Wilcox, QC, inquiry in 1983 that some people, particularly lower-income earners, would use pokies “to gamble to an extent which is beyond their financial capacity”.
. Moreover, Kirner claimed quaintly at the time, an “online computer” would “ensure a fair go for players”. By 2012, two decades after their introduction, it was clear we were hopelessly addicted. Those initial 10,000 machines had risen to 25,000. The government now depended on pokies taxation for a not insubstantial 3 per cent of its total budget. Football club executives told this masthead that gaming had become a critical source of income. A Productivity Commission inquiry in 2010, meanwhile, had estimated that at least 40 per cent of pokies revenue came from problem gamblers.
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