We all lose on pokies

ONE million dollars every three days.

It’s an obscene amount of money to be throwing away — almost too large a sum to even conceive of — but that is exactly what locals have lost to pokie machines over the past six months.

The most recent government statistics show that Geelong gamblers have lost a whopping $110 million in the year to June — an average $10 million in pokies every month. That is $110 million that would otherwise be in the hands of local people or their families, $110 million that could be spent in local shops, supporting local businesses or boosting the local economy.

Geelong gamblers have poured more than $2.2 billion into the pokies since they were legalised in Victoria in 1992.

Throw in horse and greyhound racing, sports betting, online gambling and visits to the casino, and the amount of money being lost by locals skyrockets.

Which goes some way to explaining why a new Deakin University study has found that the vast majority of Victorians want more to be done to regulate the gambling industry.

It doesn’t take a major study to know the devastation that can occur with gambling addiction. Financial difficulty, broken relationships and family violence are among the flow-on effects that come with habitual gambling, meaning the cost to the community climbs way beyond what is initially placed into the pokie machine.

Bethany Community Support is at the frontline of the local fight, offering financial counselling, support workers and community education through its Gambler’s Help program.

Yet the industry still thrives. The recent Deakin study found that although the majority of the 500 people surveyed wanted tougher action on gambling reform, one in five of the respondents admitted to playing the pokies at least monthly. We know the perils of the industry, but we still can’t help ourselves.

Which is why action such as the State Government’s recent pokie machine freeze — and community leadership such as that shown by the Geelong Football Club in making the Kardinia Park precinct pokiesfree — is so crucial. We have a long way to go to win the fight against pokies, but we are finally taking steps in the right direction.