Draft Report a major disappointment for clubs
By TERRY CONDON, CCM
CMAA Executive Officer
Anyone reading the Productivity Commission’s 600-page Draft Report on Gambling in Australia could be excused for thinking that it is an all-out attack on the Registered Club Industry and endorsement of casinos and internet gambling.
If adopted, the suggested regulations will drive both recreational gamblers and gamblers with a problem to other less-regulated forms of gambling by making it “all too hard” to have a “flutter” on a poker machine.
The 99% of Australian adults who gamble responsibility as a form of entertainment again will be disadvantaged by the 1% who choose not to seek help with their personal problems.
If you fall ill, you seek medical advice to cure your problem. You don’t expect the rest of Australia to change what they do because you have a problem. However, it seems that gamblers with a problem can expect that the 99% of Australians should be denied a lawful enjoyable pursuit.
People who have dependence problems with gambling, alcohol or drugs will tell anyone who cares to listen, that it doesn’t matter how much governments regulate to window dress the problem, unless the individual acknowledges that they have a problem and genuinely wish to address it, they will always fail.
In what appears to be a “try anything” approach to reducing problem gambling, the Productivity Commission has recommended a series of untried and unproven measures, including a “big brother”-style card that sets a daily gambling limit for anyone wanting to play a poker machine.
The Draft Report also recommends a maximum bet of $1 when playing a poker machine, while not acknowledging punters can place multi-million dollar amounts on all manner of sporting events and fixtures in other forms of gambling.
A proposed $200 daily limit on ATM cash withdrawals fails to acknowledge recent studies by governments that have stated there is insufficient evidence to suggest reducing ATM daily cash limits below $1,000 reduces problem gambling and if the person who has a problem can apply to their bank to stop themselves from using ATMs in these venues. But no, its easier to put limits on all Australians while those with a problem are still allowed to withdraw $200. If gamblers were “fair dinkum” about their problem, they have the ability to have themselves “barred”.
The Commission’s support for pre-commitment technology effectively creates a license to gamble for all Australians, regardless of whether they have a problem. The technology is the gambling equivalent of telling people how much money they can spend on alcohol, or dining at an expensive restaurant.
I’m surprised that the Productivity Commission had adopted such a narrow focus for what the Club Industry had anticipated as a wide-ranging analysis.
The industry was expecting something that would offer a definitive survey of gambling behaviour in Australia. What we have is an almost one-dimensional perspective on a single facet of gambling.
I believe the Commission has missed a great opportunity to make a real difference in the debate and problem-solving process of the issue of gambling and its impact. I look forward to the Club Industry being able to offer its best advice in the public submission process and that this document can offer much more than its First Draft.
While it’s acknowledged that governments have a duty to help the 1% of Australians with a gambling problem, it should also be acknowledged that they have a responsibility to all Australians who gamble within their means and as a form of entertainment.
Registered clubs around Australia have a long and proud record of addressing their members’ concerns with gambling and have been doing so long before we had productivity commission reports and politicians who gain their employment on the back of “pokies”. Registered clubs have always had a policy that “one gambler with a problem is one too many” and have been responsible for the reduction in the number of gamblers with problems more so that any government legislation. These new measures once again only address the “vehicle” in the problem and not the “driver”.
The Registered Club Industry will continue to work for the benefit of all Australians and, hopefully, bring some “common sense” to the discussion and not a pre-conceived bias to placate the vocal minority.
The Draft Report was released on October 21, 2009. The public is invited to make written submissions to the Productivity Commission by Friday, December 18, 2009. The final report, after submissions have been received, will be forwarded to the Government by February 26, 2010.
It’s time for Australians who have seen their freedom of choice consistently eroded to appease those who do not have self control to speak out. If there is to be cultural change, it must be based on facts not emotion and politics.
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