yarra ranges says "enough pokies"

Yarra Ranges Council has thrown its support behind a Municipal Association of Victoria and Salvation Army campaign to better protect for vulnerable communities from inappropriate placement of pokies machines.

Dozens of Mayors and Councillors from around Victoria attended the launch of the “Enough Pokies” campaign last Thursday, which was supported by Word Vision’s Tim Costello and the Salvation Army’s Bruce Redman.

Mayor Fiona McAllister said protecting vulnerable communities from the inappropriate placement of pokies is an important objective for local government.

“In 2013-14 losses to poker machines in the Yarra Ranges was  $26,625,127. We have to be extremely careful about where those machines are placed given the significant harm they can cause to the surrounding community,” she said.

Convener of the Victorian Local Government Association Working Group on Gambling, Yarra Ranges Councillor, Samantha Dunn, attended the launch.

“In recent years the big operators have been attempting to grow their gaming revenues by moving more of their machines into the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in the state.  They have been assisted by an inadequate legal framework,” Cr Dunn said.

Cr Dunn said the current legal test which required that there be ‘no net detriment’ arising for a community as a result of an application was failing Victorians.

“There is a lack of guidance in how the Victorian Commission for Liquor and Gambling Regulation (VCLGR) should apply the test,” she said.

“It is time for the State Parliament to issue it with binding guidance so that it makes decisions in the public interest.”

Of the 154 VCGLR decisions since July 2008, 93% have been decided in favour of the gaming operator, despite strong council and community objections in more than half of these applications.

  

 “We need the next Victorian government to provide clear and simple guidance to the VCLGR on how it must apply the ‘no net detriment’ in the public interest rather than in the interests of the big gaming operators.”  

Tim Costello, chairman of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, said that greater efforts were needed to limit the damage done by pokies.

“Each year, over $2.5 billion is lost in pokies across Victoria. That’s almost $7 million per day out of the pockets of Victorians and into gaming machines,” Mr Costello said.

“We need to strongly consider the damage that pokies can do to people and to communities. This is especially true of Victoria’s poorer postcodes.

“Any step that helps to protect vulnerable communities from the harm of poker machines is a step worth taking, and I fully support what the Enough Pokies campaign is trying to achieve,” he said.

Municipal Association of Victoria President Bill McArthur said that local councils had demonstrated a deep concern about the issue.

“The MAV State Council overwhelmingly voted to support this call for change. It is clear to us, by the number of councils who have expressed their concern for the welfare of their communities, that inappropriate placement of pokies is an area the state government needs to address,” Cr McArthur said.

In support of the Enough Pokies campaign, the MAV has sought protection for vulnerable communities from pokies in its Call to Parties document submitted to all major political parties ahead of the state election.

Follow the campaign on Facebook.com/EnoughPokies or @EnoughPokiesVic.

council supports campaign on pokies

report from the roundtable – 26 aug

A group of councils have got together to campaign for systemic reforms to Electronic Gaming Machines gambling (I’ll be calling them Pokies from here on). 

Part of the ask was a contribution from each local government of $5,000 to put towards the campaign Redressing the Burden of Electronic Gaming Machines.  As chair of the Local Government Working Group on Gambling I was pleased to be able to move the motion to support the campaign.

The campaign will provide legal advice on the proposed systemic changes to the requirement around proof of ‘net community benefit’ in relation to pokies, include a communications strategy and materials councils can use in the lead up to the state election.

The current annual spend on pokies in Yarra Ranges is $26million, when you extrapolate out the problem gambling component it equates to $9.1million. That’s a lot of money out of household budgets and out of our local economy.

Local government has had low levels of success in the regulatory processes related to Pokies applications. The views of local communities and evidence of harmful impacts are difficult to quantify and therefore hard to argue. The timelines for preparing sophisticated social and economic impact statements are extremely short and the onus is on local government not the Pokies applicant.

There’s been a long held frustration by local government at the impact of the regulatory processes and system and our capacity to protect community wellbeing.

I was delighted that councillors voted unanimously to support the motion (and the campaign).

the campaign trail - 12 aug

Another busy week on the campaign trail. This week includes updates on:

PTV 'Public Forum' Farce - The PTV and Transdev 'only by invite' consultations
Ben Cronly preselected for Bulleen
Lib/Lab vote down Greens Pokies Bill to support $1 bets
Manningham Greens talk to commuters
Fundraiser for Eltham and Ivanhoe
TAFE in trouble - VAGO report
Your invitation to the launch of Bulleen and Warrandyte campaigns


You can keep up to date with campaign news on:
facebook - Samantha Dunn EasternMetropolitan
or
twitter - @greens4eastmet

to volunteer or donate
web - Samantha Dunn, Candidate for Eastern Metropolitan

samantha in the press

Rowville line upgrades take back seat to north and west rail upgrades
by Angus Livingston
Waverley Leader
2 Apr 2013

Yarra Ranges Weekly 2 Apr 2013



Lilydale Leader 2 Apr 2013

 



moneyless pokies ban a win for community

The Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) welcomes the move by the Government to ban moneyless Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) in Victoria over the next decade.

Moneyless EGMs fall into a loophole for gambling regulation, as they do not pay out cash prizes, so are not covered by the Gambling Regulation Act 2003. Whilst they look identical to conventional pokie machines, they have been modified so no cash winnings are paid.

Our concerns about moneyless EGMs is that they could be placed in shopping centres and children's amusement centres and can act as a form of "gambling on training wheels" for children. Moneyless pokies can normalise gambling for young people.

Wider community concern about this issue is high with the outrage expressed abouts sports betting advertising at sports venues and television recently.

The increase in poker machine numbers, their concentration in disadvantaged areas, the rise in problem gambling, the lack of council planning control over pokie venues, the negative economic impacts and the lack of independent research in the impacts of gambling have all become concerns for local government.

The Local Government Working Group on Gambling (LGWGOG), convened by the VLGA, has also heard concerns regarding other pokie-like forms of gambling that might slip through regulation loopholes. The group wrote earlier this year to the Responsible Gambling Ministerial Advisory Committee and the Minister for Gaming on the issue of Lucky Envelope Machines or Lucky Ticket Vending Machines. These machines are considered a minor form of gambling so their number and location are not regulated by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.

The industry is branching out in many different forms of gambling as new technologies arise and it is difficult for regulators and policy makers to stay on top of it. Any form of gambling that normalises gambling for minors should be regulated and the VLGA commends the state government for this action.

samantha in the press - vlga

Cash surges for Wyndam's pokies
Leader Newspapers
by James Twining
29 Feb 2012

samantha in the press - vlga

Push for action on pokie bets

Leader Newspapers

by James Twining

27 Feb 2012

samantha, vlga - pokies and politics

Politics and Pokies a bad mix for problem gamblers

VLGA Media Release








A peak body of local governments, community organisations and individual members concerned with the impacts of problem gambling on hundreds and thousands of Australians has called for the removal of politics from the cost of precommitment technology for pokies.

"The Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) has supported the Productivity Commission's recommendations on mandatory precommitment and is disappointed that neither the Federal not State Governments have taken the steps we would have like to have seen," VLGA President Cr Samantha Dunn said.

Responding to the recent news that the State Government will delay the implementation of voluntary precommitment on pokies in Victoria, Cr Dunn confirmed that she will be writing to the Premier and Gaming Minister.

"We'd like to test their view that introducing precommitment technology in Victoria has to be extended to 2016 due to its cost prohibitive nature. We'd like to know on what costing advice the government has made this call, especially given the Federal Minister's claim that their plans are no threat to the State Government delivering on their election commitment."

If you'd like to read the full release click here.

samantha in the press - pokies

Councils take on government over pokies Northern Weekly by Meagan Weymes 28 March 2011

samantha in the press - pokies

Shire stands firm on club plan
Yarra Ranges weekly
by Elisa Miller
16 Nov 2010

samantha in the press - pokies

Magpies lose bid for pokies in Chirnside Park
Leader Newspapers
by Emily Webb
15 Nov 10

pokies in chirnside – no thanks

The Shire of Yarra Ranges recently had to provide a submission to the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation about the proposed relocation of 70 pokie machines to a new venue on a significant corner in Chirnside Park.

An application has been lodged to construct a hotel, function centre and recreation facility at 266 Maroondah Highway. It is a prominent, gateway location to the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the Yarra Valley. It is adjacent to the Chirnside Park Shopping Centre and is a completely inappropriate siting for such a facility.

I am opposed the move based on some serious concerns about the suitability of the site for gambling and the impact on our local economy and families in the region.

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Part of the application includes the proposal to install 70 pokie machines which would be relocated from the Lilydale International site, which is being converted into retirement accommodation.

It is well know that pokies attract patrons from disadvantaged areas well beyond the borders of Chirnside Park. Our local economy loses millions of dollars to pokies, the last thing we’d support is greater financial strain on families as well as intensifying problem gambling in our community.

Yarra Ranges sees losses of $35million per annum in the Shire, this money would be far better spent in our local economies, rather than through the slot of a pokie machine. The cumulative losses since 1992, in today’s dollars, equals $500million, this is a massive hole in terms of money that could be spent elsewhere.

We know that problem gambling has significant negative health and wellbeing outcomes for families. It is a major determinant of ill health and the associated anti-social behaviour of problem gamblers has a significant negative impact on community well being.

And worst of all, the applicant has not even consulted with the community so community members haven’t even had the opportunity to voice their concerns to the regulator.

The Shire of Yarra Ranges council has always had strong concerns about the negative impact of gambling and has developed a responsible gambling strategy aimed at reducing the incidence of problem gambling.

The social costs are enormous, not to mention the economic impact to small business and employment. I will always be opposed to any additional pokie venues or machines, they are a blight on our community and take money from people who can least afford it.