There’s your problem.
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Poker machines have their place and that is in casinos and destination gaming venues such as racecourses.
They cause the most social damage when they are easily accessible such as Windy Hill and Melton Country Club. If we could arrange a sale to Moonee Valley Racetrack and Melton Harness then they may be located in the most suitable environment.
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So what are the details on the damage that the Melton Club is doing to the local Community.
So on one hand pokies are evil and causing social damage, but it is ok to have them at Moonee Valley or the Melton Trots.
Reality is that the pokies at Melton Harness is the most badly managed pokies venue I have ever seen. It is open very long hours, very little supervision and no support mechanism. It has a massive car park and you do not have to be a Member to enter unlike the Melton Club
IIRC, the pokies were allowed into NSW clubs & pubs on condition that they employed live bands, which was enforced and in consequence the music scene in NSW prospered. That was well before Carr - some 25 years before. I was OS at the time, but I think Carr must have removed the requirement for live music in clubs. & pubs some time in the 1990s…
Are we advocating for the selling of our licences or the destroying of them? I don’t know how them moving hands changes anything?
I hate pokie machines but acknowledge they aren’t going anywhere. I would rather they be owned by organisations that channel the funds into something other than larger corporate profits.
Essendon giving up their licences changes nothing. Is there any research to show that other clubs giving up their machines has changed the habits of problem gamblers or the community as a whole?
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@Allblack Can I flip the question. Are you comfortable with the club being funded by an activity that causes great social harm? Family violence, not being able to pay for food, rent, clothes and social isolation are all a direct cause from people being addicted to poker machines. It’s a long road but even selling the entitlements will lead to the authorities being able to better isolate and manage these issues. In the short term, should the club be involved in this activity that brings social unrest and misery? As a community club shouldn’t we be contributing to the community and not taking from it?
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If I could, I would buy all the pokies off the club and take everybody’s money. I would then take it out as $100 bills and make a bed out of it. I would sleep like a baby with no guilt.
The pressure should not be on the club to sell them, but on the government to make them illegal. At least with our club getting them it goes towards new facilities and stuff. If I owned them, it would all go to sex, drugs and alcohol.
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@Clone_Hirdy At least you have thought about it.
Every waking moment.
No.
I hate pokies. I just think focusing on the club isn’t focusing on the problem.
We have more things banned and outlawed in this country than anywhere in the world, from things that are obviously damaging to things that can be damaging dependant on an individuals self control to the most stupid non issue things
All this country does is ban things and treat adults as children
If pokies are to be made illegal then all forms of gambling must follow, meaning most high level sport dies off due to lack of financial viability
Also all alcohol must be made illegal as it has an equal or higher capacity to cause harm
How long until we are a nation who is allowed to do nothing but work and pay tax
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My point is that the club selling the pokies doesn’t change anything other than who owns the pokies.
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I understand you, and wasnt trying to come across as having a go at you or your point of view just responding to the “pressure the government to make them illegal” comment
Personally I have no issue with the club owning and taking revenue from any viable legal source
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I agree. My point is that the club is copping it for making money legally. We should get more pokies.
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but clone_hirdy it’s making me feel guilty and i would prefer the societal harm to be taking place somewhere where i personally don’t have to hear or think about it
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Hot take but, they should make gambling venues dry zones. No booze in the same building. Maybe even put breathalysers on machines. Alternatively and even hotter, make them like injecting rooms with counseling on-site and nominated loss limits that have to be declared face to face with counselling providers.
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Here’s the latest article in the Guardian about how AFL clubs claim their operational costs as "Community Benefits and getting tax benefits as a result. While this behaviour is practiced across the industry, I think it highlights the issue that many of us have about with Essendon Football Club being involved in this industry.
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Why? Are you saying we are more negligent than your average pokie operator?
Your argument is all good and well. In the short term as you say, should we be contributing to the community? These are good virtues but how does the club find itself in the short term? How does the club pay for the additional development coaches and Matt Rosa joining the club. Broader, how does the club realise its Windy Hill master plan? How does the club maintain best in class facilities at the Hangar. I’m yet to hear a sound response…
Without a plan, the pokies must remain.
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