Strange wording from the club. 75% of votes cast must be in favour. 36% of members voted in favour.
So 36% of all members, or just 36% of those who voted?
I guess the latter since 36% of all members are unlikely to vote at all, but still…
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Perhaps the Resolution was too subtle and allowed the club (and those comfortable with owning poker machines) the opportunity to position the Resolution as something that it wasn’t. To make it very clear, the Resolution was NOT about the immediate exit from owning poker machines and yet the club was allowed to put out statements leading members down that path.
Disappointing.
Owning poker machines continues to be a social and health issue that hurts individuals, families and communities. This is the same position as the Gambling Regulator takes so let’s not argue about that. The Resolution was simply about the club acknowledging that by owning poker machines we contribute to social harm. That is not what a community group should be doing.
In the medium term the social argument may be just a side issue as the pending financial issues of running such clubs is going to badly hurt the profitability of these ventures. Cashless gambling, reduced loading limits, slower spin rates, far greater scrutiny on cash laundering, more Board time taken up on managing these responsibilities and liabilities all combines to make being involved in the poker machines as a very poor decision.
One way or another the club needs to exit this industry and concentrate on being a football club.
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This is the part I don’t get why people would want us to do this, it opens us up to unwanted litigation.
The vote would have been more successful if it ran on the basis of a transition away from poker machine revenue and not trying to blame the club for individual actions.
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Sorry Tbone but that is 100% incorrect. Can I get you to read the Regulator’s stated position on gambling and social Harm?
Our position on gambling harm | vgccc.vic.gov.au
NoPE was only stating what the Regulator has already said. The only way the club could be subject to litigation is if it didn’t follow the terms of its gambling licence.
This has been discussed multiple times in this thread but you seem determined to hang onto this notion that the Resolution could have brought forward legal issues. Just not the case, never was.
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Even in that article all the vgccc have said is it seeks harm reduction it doesn’t mention the legal implications of a company admitting harm.
An admission of harm can be seen as an acknowledgment of liability which someone could cite as an evidence in court.
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36% of those who voted
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Sportsbet has admitted gambling causes harm. No one is suing them because of it
I feel like I’m talking to a wall but can I ask that you read the entire statement by the VGCCC?
Where is the liability if you are operating in accordance with the licence? It’s like saying I can sue Ford because I used their vehicle and got into a car incident. If their car operated as advertised how would they have liability? Ford would recognise that harm can come from operating a vehicle, even if used correctly, as there are a range of factors involved.
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Isn’t this the argument the current board used in recommending members vote it down?
There’s a difference between saying gambling causes harm and Sportsbet has caused the harm
Yes I did, can you point me to the part in the link you specifically want me to focus on because the way I read that is that the vgccc seeks to reduce harm it in no way address the legal implications of a company admitting it caused the harm.
At the end of the day iam going to back in the the highly paid and highly skilled lawyers that the Essendon fc employ to advise on these decisions over a link to a website that makes no mentions of the legal ramifications of admitting to causing harm.
That’s an interesting comparison and got me thinking because I’m against that, but I’m fine with the pokies. So, I had to consider whether I was being hypocritical.
After some thinking, I don’t think I am. I don’t see EFC as promoting pokies. There is no messaging from the club supporting them or telling me to play them at Windy Hill. I similarly wouldn’t be fussed if EFC held shares in Sportsbet.
However, assuming a sponsorship deal involved the club pushing Sportsbet and gambling in its communications and promotions, I would be very much against that. As I would see it as the club promoting damaging behaviour.
legally speaking, no there isn’t
all major gambling providers acknowledge that gambling causes harm and they are responsible for minimising that harm through harm reduction measures
trying to argue otherwise is just playing word games
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Yes it does if a company comes out as says gambling causes harm it’s u likely to be seen as admission of liability but rather a acceptance of bigger issues around gambling, where as a company saying they caused harm it would directly link the company actions to harm suffered by a individual
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it doesn’t work like that lol, it’s not an admission of liability no matter how much you think it is
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With that said there’s no way iam going to change anybody’s opinions on this topic so I may aswell bounce and enjoy my day rather than arguing.
Peace out yall 
They hinted at that but did not run that as an argument to vote no.
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Note in the second last paragraph, the commitment to continue to operate the machines/venues to the highest standard.
The important bit of that is of course that the club is committed to continuing to operate the machines. Anyone who believes that the club is even slightly serious about getting out of pokies needs to take their blindfold off. Theres not even a whisper here about orderly transitions, or alternative revenue streams. They’re just not trying because they don’t give a ■■■■.
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And this is the mixed messaging that has always worried me. The club talks about the need to bring in alternative revenue, but without a public commitment to a timely exit from pokies, the danger is that alternative revenue morphs into additional revenue. NoPE plays an important role in calling out this inconsistency.
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