Now you can gamble at the corner store

Australia - PEOPLE in NSW are losing more money than ever on the pokies - $750 a head - at a time the Iemma Government says it is fighting problem gambling by cutting the number of machines.

And the flow of cash to state coffers from gambling shows no sign of slowing: a day after the Herald revealed the Government had approved the use of Keno in hotels, it has emerged that NSW Lotteries is preparing to expand its sales in 7-Eleven stores. This would mean scratch tickets and Lotto being sold around the clock.

A trial of lottery sales in 17 convenience stores is under way, and a spokesman for NSW Lotteries said it could be expanded to all 7-Elevens. He said pubs and clubs could also sell lottery products if they wish.

Figures from the Government's Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing show that each person in NSW lost an average $750 a year on gaming machines in 2006, up from $660 in 2002. In city areas, the situation is even worse, with gamblers losing almost $800 a year, up from $700 five years ago.

The Government has argued in recent years that it has helped tackle problem gambling by reducing the number of machines. But the figures appear to show no progress is being made.

In May 2002, there were 66,179 poker machine entitlements in metropolitan NSW, peaking at 66,741 in March 2003 - the time of the last state election - falling to 66,223 last November.

The Premier, Morris Iemma, said yesterday that the Government had cut the number, "and you can obtain the details from the department or the minister".

He said the suggestion that hotels which donated millions of dollars to the Labor Party had led to the Keno decision was "absolute rubbish", and introducing Keno in hotels "could well reduce the use of poker machines".

But his Government found itself under attack from all sides yesterday. The federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, the Salvation Army and other welfare groups attacked the Keno decision.

Mr Costello criticised Labor state governments, saying Australia already had more poker machines than any other nation.

"Having flooded Australia with poker machines, we are now going to double up with Keno competitions," he said.

"There's got to be an end to this. At the end of the day they are looking at gambling revenues, of course, but you've got to remember there are human tragedies at the end of this."

Mr Costello said the revenue states made from gambling had to be considered against the money the Federal Government spent to help problem gamblers after they had "lost their houses and incomes".

The federal Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, said the Keno decision had to be made "independently by state governments". But he said he had a "real problem" with state dependence on "gambling-related taxes".

Politicians of all persuasions - including Mr Iemma - praised an announcement by Peter Holmes a Court that he wanted poker machines out of his South Sydney Leagues Club. But his plan appeared to stall in the face of a lack of enthusiasm from the club's chairman.

The chairman of the Productivity Commission, Gary Banks, told a national gaming forum last month that while there may be fewer poker machines in NSW, the problem had been shifted from country towns to "bigger spending locations" in the city, such as the mega clubs on the outskirts of Sydney. Tax revenue from gambling had declined in most states, but was "holding up in NSW", he said.

Jeremy Bath, a spokesman for Clubs NSW, said that "given the historic economic highs of the Australian economy in the past 10 years, it's hardly surprising that gaming revenue has increased in NSW by several percentage points every year".

The federal Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, said the Keno decision had to be made "independently by state governments". But he said he had a "real problem" with state dependence on "gambling-related taxes".

Politicians of all persuasions - including Mr Iemma - praised an announcement by Peter Holmes a Court that he wanted poker machines out of his South Sydney Leagues Club. But his plan appeared to stall in the face of a lack of enthusiasm from the club's chairman (full report page 4).

The chairman of the Productivity Commission, Gary Banks, told a national gaming forum last month that while there may be fewer poker machines in NSW, the problem had been shifted from country towns to "bigger spending locations" in the city, such as the mega clubs on the outskirts of Sydney. Tax revenue from gambling had declined in most states, but was "holding up in NSW", he said.

Jeremy Bath, a spokesman for Clubs NSW, said that "given the historic economic highs of the Australian economy in the past 10 years, it's hardly surprising that gaming revenue has increased in NSW by several percentage points every year".

courtesy Sydney Morning Herald

News Added: 20 September, 2007

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