Desperate calls for pokie ban in vulnerable areas
Fairfield council has called on the NSW government to implement a ban on more poker machines being approved in clubs and pubs in the vulnerable area.
The region, considered to be one of the most disadvantaged in Sydney, saw more than $8 billion gambled through pokies by residents during the 2015-16 period.
The council says this has resulted in several incidents of gambling-related harm, and believes it is up to the state government regulator, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, to cap the number of machines in communities.
The council’s submission reads, “No public good can be achieved within communities with high levels of gambling, such as Fairfield, for any further development of the gaming industry or any additional increases in gaming revenue.”
Alliance for Gambling Reform spokeswoman, Allison Keogh, says, “We don't push addictive cigarettes to get revenue, so both sides of NSW politics need to break their addiction to pokies revenue and escape the capture of the pokies industry with its dangerous products and influence-pedalling which results in state-sponsored citizen abuse."
What are your thoughts? Do you believe poker machines have a place in local communities? Or are they doing far more harm than good?