I wrote about this decision at the time, but to recap briefly, this was a case of the community rising up to make their voice heard. Coordinating the town’s opposition to the proposed development was local Jeremy Ham, who created the Facebook group Don’t Poke Jan Juc. This group was instrumental in getting the people of Jan Juc organised against the proposal.
Tag: vcgr
jan juc – the fight continues
About a month ago, on 4th October, the VCGR handed down a landmark decision. After a lengthy application and assessment process, they rejected an application from Jan Juc’s Beach Hotel to install 30 poker machines. This was after Jan Juc’s council had already rejected a development proposal for the hotel, of which the poker machines were a key component.
sneaky bastards file – tattersalls and the mail exchange hotel
When I’m not playing with my kids, or blogging about gambling shenanigans, I work in Melbourne’s CBD. My trip to work takes me to Southern Cross station, and past the construction site of the Mail Exchange Hotel on Bourke St.
This morning, I noticed that it wasn’t a construction site any more. The signs were lit, the doors were open and there was a bouncer standing out the front. Big guy too. The Mail Exchange Hotel was open for business… just after 8 in the morning. And what sort of business does a hotel partake in at 8 in the morning in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD?
vcgr website getting better
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation. In fact, I’ve given them a fair whack on this blog, and they deserve it. But there is one area where the VCGR does well, probably better than any other gambling regulatory body in this country, and that’s transparency of data.
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.
nsw olgr – making the vcgr look good
I’ve written a fair bit about the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation over the past few months. No surprises there, as they continue to make bewildering and questionable decisions about poker machine gambling in Victoria, and are seen by many (least of all me) as little more than a rubber stamp for the gambling industry.
But I have a confession to make. I’ve recently come to a troubling conclusion, one that has rocked me to my core.
When it’s all said and done, the VCGR isn’t that bad. It could be a hell of a lot worse. There, I said it.
the figures don’t add up in darebin
Something curious is happening in the City of Darebin.
A local paper, the Northcote Leader, ran a couple of stories recently (here and here) about Darebin Council’s new tough gaming policy, and the recent decision (by the council) to issue a permit for 30 new poker machines to the Stolberg Beer Cafe hotel.
It seems strange that the council would talk up their tough stance on pokies on the one hand, while approving new machines on the other. Apparently that’s because the old policy allowed the permit to be granted because there were only two objections. That’s a far cry from the people-power actions taken recently in Romsey, Jan Juc and Port Fairy!
want poker machines? just ask
At the risk of becoming obsessed with the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation, they’re just such a big target.
When VCAT and the Supreme Court upheld the wishes of the people of Romsey to remain pokie-free, Jim Hogan (who was behind the failed bid to put pokies in the Romsey Hotel) commented that this decision would make it harder, if not impossible for new venues to open in Victoria in the future. Jim, looks like you were wrong on that one.
exclusive – more poker machines for victoria
I believe this is an exclusive… at least, I haven’t seen any reference to this anywhere else, and believe me, I’ve been looking.
We’ve all heard the spin from the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation (VCGR) in the past few days, talking about the drop in poker machine spending, venues and the overall number of poker machines in Victoria over the past financial year. I’ve written about it here. These figures have been widely touted as proving that Victoria’s fight against problem gambling is making progress.
But the VCGR hasn’t been telling us everything they know.
pink hotel – the vcgr gets it wrong again
Only two days ago, I wrote about The Pink Hotel’s proposed 60-machine gaming room, and the soundproof glass cage that was intended to overlook the pokies. There’s been a lot of yelling and screaming about this, both in the press and the Beaconsfield community, and rightfully so.
However, on that same day the VCGR quietly issued a press release on the topic of The Pink Hotel’s kids area. I honestly think they intended to clear the air with this press release, but all they’ve done is highlight how poorly they operate, and how badly they need major reforms in their day to day operations.
auditor-general tells doj, vcgr to shape up
Victoria’s Auditor-General tabled a report in state parliament today. The report was a performance audit on Taking Action on Problem Gambling, a strategy drawn up in 2006 to tackle problem gambling. TAoPG was to be jointly implemented by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation (VCGR).
I’ve read the audit report, and you know what? It’s a surprisingly good read, at least when you compare it to reports released by the VCGR and the Productivity Commission… but I digress.
sneaky bastards file – the pink hotel
Yesterday I wrote about the ALH’s decision to pull gambling-style kids games from all of their venues across the country; that includes almost 100 venues in Victoria alone. It made a nice change to be able to write something good about this lot, especially given the Woolworths connection and the bad publicity they’ve been getting in the press (and deservedly so).
But any lingering happy thoughts I might have had about this were shattered when I learned last night that the Pink Hill Hotel, a proposed development in Beaconsfield, is planning on building a soundproof room, essentially a glass cage, to serve as a kids play area… and that this cage would overlook the 60-machine gaming room.
Are these people insane?
we’re still gambling
So the VCGR have released their poker machine figures for the 2009-10 financial year. They seemed to think the situation was improving, as I discussed here. And today, Victorian Gaming Minister Tony Robinson was quoted in this article, talking about the drop in spending and the reduced incidence of problem gambling in Victoria.
To read all this, you’d think we were winning the battle against problem gambling. Well, guess what?
We’re still gambling.
vcgr puts their spin on pokies figures
The VCGR (that’s the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation, otherwise known as the rubber stamp) released its EGM Annual figures today. These are the figures detailing Victoria’s spending on EGMs (electronic gaming machines) for the 2009-10 financial year. Not surprisingly, they managed to spin these figures to make them actually sound good.
