Tim Costello, Sydney Morning Herald Opinion
I know Eddie McGuire and I like him. He has fine social justice instincts. But Eddie – as well as all AFL presidents – needs to answer these questions since he is opposed to the Gillard/Wilkie reform of a pre-commitment card on the high-loss poker machines.
Eddie, how is a pre-commitment card on this dangerous product a tax on footy?
Players will only need a card on those high-loss machines where you can easily lose $1200 per hour or more. No card is needed for the low-loss $1-maximum-bet machines. The Productivity Commission found 88 per cent of people do not bet more than $1 spins. The recreational punter will not even notice these changes. Other parts of the world have these low-loss recreational machines. In Britain, you can lose $30-$40 an hour. In contrast, Australia has the greatest number of high-loss pokies. We have the greatest number of high-loss machines in the world and they are the crack cocaine of pokies. We have the highest per capita gambling losses and highest per capita levels of addiction.
Eddie, who pays $1200 for an hour’s entertainment?
Continue reading on the Sydney Morning Herald website here: The game’s up – pokies reform not so taxing for footy.
This article is spot on. The people and organisations making noise about this have a vested interest, which is financially driven. If their business model is one which relies on exploiting the most vulnerable in our community then perhaps they might want to consider the business model. More here: http://www.spinspun.com.au