I’ve mentioned a couple of times that Clubs Australia was writing to each of its 10 million members, urging them to tell their MPs not to support mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines. Well, as it happens I’ve got my hands on a copy of one of these letters, and it makes for interesting, if predictable, reading.
Tag: pokies
a letter from the clubs
It’s been a little quiet on the news front over the past few days, especially after the club-driven frenzy over fingerprinting and pre-commitment technology. Still, there’s always something going on.
no pokies for jan juc
The little town of Jan Juc on Victoria’s surf coast is a quiet place for much of the year. There aren’t many people, and there certainly aren’t any pokies. Neighbouring Torquay has always had more than enough to make up for that.
So when the local Beach Hotel lodged an application for 30 poker machines, it sparked a wave of community protest not seen since Romsey went to the Supreme Court to keep pokies out of their town. And today, the people of Jan Juc won their battle. The VCGR handed down their decision on the Beach Hotel’s application, and for the first time in 2010, they said no.
money laundering at the pokies? get your facts straight!
Lost amongst the deluge of “fingerprinting” stories in the press over the last couple of days, this story appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald. I admit I only gave it a cursory glance when I first saw it. But when one of my regular readers (and apparently I actually do have regular readers!) from NSW contacted me for my thoughts on the article, I decided to give it a closer look.
clubs australia’s fingerprints are all over this
Two days on, and the media frenzy over “fingerprinting to play pokies” continues. If we ever needed proof that Clubs Australia can exert undue influence over our media outlets, this is it.
the burswood pokies sidestep
I nearly had to drop Burswood Casino into my Sneaky Bastards file today. I still might.
clubs – protecting their pokies, not their patrons
It’s official. The clubs of Australia are a law unto themselves.
News has recently emerged of the Clubs Australia campaign being waged against the mandatory pre-commitment agreement struck between Andrew Wilkie and Julia Gillard. Reported here, the essence is that the clubs are targeting all 150 Federal MPs to paint a picture of how this agreement will cost jobs and hurt the community. More than this, they’re writing to each of their 10 million members to warn them about what they say will be the impact of pre-commitment technology, including job cuts and increased prices.
pokies? fasten your seatbelts!
The Federal election of 2010 was one of the strangest and most evenly-balanced elections in Australian history. The counting of votes dragged on, and it became apparent that neither the ALP nor the Coalition would be able to govern in their own right. Deals would need to be struck.
the pokies of whittlesea – strange things are afoot
There’s been some coverage in the media recently about the Laurimar Tavern in Doreen, in the City of Whittlesea. Essentially, the Laurimar Tavern has been approved by the VCGR for 40 poker machines, despite the objections of residents and the local council.
regional caps – pokies and the city of casey
I’ve been looking at Victoria’s regional caps recently… more specifically, how ineffective they are. The system of applying caps on pokie numbers based on regions of “high socioeconomic disadvantage and high losses” just doesn’t work, especially when you add municipal caps into the deal. I’ve already looked at the City of Hume as an example; now I’m going to look at the City of Casey.
election 2010- pokie reform at last!
It may have taken 17 days, on top of one of the shortest and strangest election campaigns I can remember… but we finally have a government and a prime minister. A minority government, sure, but the wait is finally over. And with Independents Oakeshott and Windsor joining Wilkie and the Greens in throwing their weight behind Labor, our political landscape will never be the same.
