I’m very strongly against the club owning pokies and have been doing a fair bit of research in the area of late. The $9m revenue amount discussed should instead be looked at as the $3.3m profit of the venues (from memory) as per the latest annual report. That’s what the club would have to replace.
The claims of community benefit by Essendon owning them over a private operator is also vastly overblown. 8 and 1/3 of revenue needs to go back to the community in order for club operators to qualify for a tax break (that isn’t available to private operators) however they’re able to claim costs such as wages and utilities towards this community benefit!
While some people don’t have sympathy for gambling addicts, or argue that many people can play them within their personal limits, it doesn’t change the fact that pokies are deliberately designed to be addictive.
Ultimately, like the article mentioned, you’d want a government buyback scheme that allows venues to sell their pokies license without them just being transferred to another operator. Regardless though, football clubs were often originally formed in order to benefit the health and wellbeing of their local community. Profiting off this suffering is antithetical to the very reasons football clubs exist in the first place (and yes, I fully acknowledge our past 20 years have also been detrimental to the health and wellbeing of our fans)
I also sympathise with the social inclusion argument for some - I’ve worked in a pokies venue before and have seen it, along with the bad side. I think the damage outweighs this benefit but part of getting out should also be about what kind of socially inclusive spaces can be created in their place.
The pokies at windy Hill is one of the most depressing places you’ll ever see. I know people who worked at windy Hill who would see the same people day in, day out, at the exact same time. They wouldn’t socialise, just play the machines. By law they have to be provided with food and water, but they were not permitted to move them on if they didn’t want to eat or drink, which was often
Apparently many of them get distressed and argumentative when closing time came and they had to be moved on from the premises. It’s a depressing, glum, insidious thing. I feel more ashamed about our usage of pokies than I do any of the drug saga ■■■■.
Does the efc need to be the moral compass for society?
In reality its just a football club.
Why does it need to be more than that.
I mean look at the AFL - purport to be great moral citizens and inclusive of indigenous culture, yet sweepy sweepy clako investigation.
If the club can sell the pokies licences and bring in investment from other areas ok, but are we then going to scrutinise those investments too - real estate - charging exorbitant rents / shares - investing in morally bankrupt companies, fitness centres, where its hard to cancel, or will we be happy when investing in these other avenues result in losses. ie the computer gaming team we had.
Some studies have shown a correlation between problem gambling and illicit drug use/supply. But their focus is more on the propensity for people to be susceptible to addiction, as opposed to some kind of causation caused by circumstance.
In any case, my only point was that it doesn’t cause less harm to society just because it’s legal. Passing moral judgement based entirely on the law is silly
It’s got nothing to do with being the moral compass of society. It’s a question of how the EFC earns it’s money and whether as an organisation it feels this is being done in a sustainable and ethical way.
Maybe it should start selling EFC flavoured vapes? Perko 1000 Puff Bar. Would make a killing.
Being at the footy, seated with your own team supporters, wearing club colours , is great for social inclusiveness for intellectually disabled, who can go on their own and belong with otherwise enabled
But not always possible and it’s seasonal
Maybe we should sell off the football side of things and concentrate on running pokies full time as it’s pretty clear we are hopeless on the football side of things
Because Wim, we have a bunch of pious people here who whinge about and do not do anything at all about it.
I do care about others with a gambling addiction, I do not care what others think about gambling and pokies in particular, as it is legal and not immoral at all. Alcohol, drugs, domestic violence hurts people and ruins lives. Pollution, poor workplace safety hurts people and ruins lives.
I have spent a lot of my life working for social progress and change, while most on here do nothing much at all except moralise over others mental health issues. I do not agree with Nick Xenophon, Andrew Wilkie, Larissa Waters and Tim Costello, but I respect their actions and dedication to their objective. Have a nice day.
There is a reason why those posters have been relegated to their own thread and are widely told off when posting gambling ■■■■ in non-gambling threads.
