The cashed-up clubs and hotels industry think they’ve won this fight and have spent many millions of dollars convincing politicians to abandon real reform – but at what cost to society?
Here’s what it’s costing us:
– 40% of all losses on poker machines come from problem gamblers.
– Poker machines are the second highest cause of crime in the community after the illicit drug trade.
– Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital reports that one in five suicide attempts are due to gambling addiction.
– The industry likes to pretend its enormous profits are going back to the community – but they actually receive more in tax breaks than the minuscule fraction (on average less than 2.6%) they give back to the community.
With facts like these it’s no wonder that poker machines have been called the “crack cocaine” of the gambling industry.
Source: GetUp