IN THE NEWS

Joe Aston has laid bare the hypocrisy and delusion of the leaders of our rapidly growing gambling sector (“Sportsbet CEO Barni Evans is kidding himself”, Rear Window, March 23). It should surprise nobody that the CEO of a foreign-owned online gambling company is seen to put profits before the welfare of Australians.

'Australia's gambling addiction and place as the world's biggest losers in the world laid bare by our Chief Advocate Tim Costello and #voices4gamblingreform Kate Selsja on @Al Jazeera program 101 East.

In 1994, the executives of seven of the world's largest tobacco companies appeared before the US Congress and infamously declared that nicotine was not addictive. History subsequently shows they were lying, their own research revealed how addictive tobacco was but they buried the findings.

Today government regulations strictly limits tobacco availability and promotion to reduce the harm it causes our health, our lives and the wider economy. Ironically, this is far from the case when it comes to another profound public harm, gambling.

Kate Seselja from the Alliance, says the conversation about poker machines in NSW has finally shifted to recognise the harm they cause. She discusses her lived experience here on ABC News

Poker machines have reached such saturation levels in NSW that gamblers are now losing more than $7 billion on them each year – vastly more than the amounts lost to betting on racing, sports and other events.

Four graphics based on analysis of gambling data by the Herald show why poker machine reform has jumped to the top of the political agenda ahead of next month’s NSW election.

In this ABC Radio National episode of #PM, Alliance Chief advocate Tim Costello points out ClubsNSW is scared the reform will undermine it’s billions of dollars in profits.

The amount of money spent on poker machines in New South Wales reached over two billion dollars in the third quarter of 2022 alone.

Online sports gambling is rapidly becoming a major issue in Australia with the silent lure of a digital app. There is an average of 948 examples gambling ads on free-to-air television every day which has played a role in Australia’s world record gambling losses.

"Our pubs are sh*t, Sydney. I’m sorry to be the one to say it, and I do so as a true lover of pubs and an operator of some of Sydney’s best. But it’s the simple and honest truth. Our watering holes stink. And the poker machines are to blame". More from James Thorpe on why there is more to pubs than gambling.

High-risk gambling and high-risk drinking overlap greatly.

The distribution of consumption is very similar, with a minority of consumers accounting for most of the demand. Plus there is a huge over-representation of vulnerable groups in those addicted to gambling and to alcohol.

The enormous social costs of gambling in Australia are still not fully understood.

Pokies aren’t just bad for health and bad for society, they are anti-business and anti-innovation. They make businesses lazy. They make governments lazy. They serve as a form of social subsidy stopping businesses from failing when they should. They act as a possibility levee, stopping ideas from thriving when they should.

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"Revenue from the pokies industry buys a lot of politicians, a lot of media, it buys just about everything. That’s why it’s so hard to reform.” Join The Alliance's Tim Costello and Insiders ABC host David Speers for a discussion on ABC Radio National.

The push from the Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR) follows an announcement from New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet that all pubs and clubs in the state must introduce cashless gaming systems across all poker machines by 2028.

In December , Hume residents spent more than $12 million on pokies, up on the prior two months by at least $470,000. In Sunbury, more than $11.5 million was lost on EGMs across six clubs between July and December last year.

I have had the tragic duty of presiding over the funerals of six people who have committed suicide due to their gambling. Their losses, their shame, their losing battle to stop gambling – all became too much. The pain suffered by family and friends is indescribable. The loss of life is so senseless and horrific. It is why I have been such a prominent campaigner for gambling reform for more than three decades.

Just as Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, led to a shift in how people viewed the pesticide DDT, so too is a fundamental shift needed in how people view gambling and the powerful industry involved, according to public health experts in England.

“As we struggle with a cost-of-living crisis, we must ask why we seem unable to act against a powerful industry that, in effect, acts as a mechanism for transferring money from the poor and vulnerable to the wealthy and privileged,” they write in the BMJ. “When will the gambling industry have its Silent Spring moment?”

To what extent is gambling affecting loan repayments? That’s “a really good question,” said anti-gambling campaigner, the Reverend Tim Costello.

Relieving stress and rising consumer costs mean two things prosper: “gambling and eating more chocolate,” according to Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate, the Reverend Tim Costello.

Speaking to Mortgage Business, Mr Costello highlighted the impact that the rising interest-rate environment could be having on Australian borrowers - particularly on those who gamble.

“Gambling almost certainly [affects loan payments] because people have an attitude of ‘I'm stuffed anyway, I might be able to make this mortgage gap with a win’, he explained.

Illegal gambling is surging in NSW with WhatsApp groups being used to place back door bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on horse racing and football, by punters who have been banned by big bookmakers.

The Daily Telegraph has learnt some of the biggest names in the gambling industry are operating as cyber “SP bookies”, taking massive bets from punters who have been banned by corporate agencies like Betfair as a result of winning too much or not wanting to provide their banking details.

ClubsNSW chief George Peponis says a mandatory cashless gaming card could exacerbate problem gambling by channelling recreational punters into unregulated online casinos.

Peponis said the clubs industry supported cashless payments, but opposed a mandatory gaming card because there was no evidence they would address problem gambling and not adversely impact on recreational punters.

Senior NSW Labor frontbencher Ryan Park insists the opposition is not opposed to a cashless gaming card after the state’s top union boss made a dramatic intervention into the gambling debate and backed Premier Dominic Perrottet’s reform plans.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey this week made the unequivocal statement that “we need action on cashless gaming cards now”, putting him at odds with Labor just two months from the election.

Jessica Huddart bought a 114-year-old pub in June last year, and on Tuesday she ripped out the poker machines to send them to the rubbish tip.

Mapleton Public House in the Sunshine Coast hinterland had six gaming machines near the bar, but Ms Huddart wanted to improve the atmosphere.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform says past efforts to ban gambling on credit have been clumsily framed and at least in part relied on the gambling industry to self-regulate. It notes that while credit cards can’t be used in licenced ven­ues, casinos or TABs, there is no tracking of cash taken from credit accounts out of ATMs. And the restrictions on online gambling providers to offering credit to customers doesn’t extend to on-course bookmakers or telephone-based services.

“These loopholes and exceptions means people are falling into a pit of debt; our political leaders must move to protect people at risk of gambling harm. The industry will never do this because they are intent on boosting their fat profits,” alliance chief executive Carol Bennett said.

Kate was just 18 when she put her first dollar into a pokie. For Tim, it wasn’t his only addiction. And Ben stole his then-wife’s birthday money while she looked for it. These are their stories.

... a big issue in an increasingly messy election campaign. Tim Costello from the Alliance for Gambling Reform explains why gambling has become a major issue in the upcoming NSW election

All poker machines in NSW will be cashless within five years after Premier Dominic Perrottet’s long-promised gambling reforms passed a snap meeting of cabinet.

After months of contentious public debate, and tension within the Coalition, the most significant overhaul to gambling since poker machines were legalised in the state in 1956 will include a range of financial support measures for clubs and pubs to introduce the new technology, as well as a specific regional transition fund.

The AFL has been savaged for “hypocrisy” in “casting aside a young umpire” accused of Brownlow Medal leaks while taking no action against troubled North Melbourne star Tarryn Thomas.

Thomas, 22, was charged last week with a single count of threatening to distribute an intimate image following a three-month police investigation over a dispute with an ex-girlfriend.

Anti-gambling campaigners have urged RSL sub-branches and affiliated clubs around the country to follow the Tasmanian organisation’s lead and completely divest from poker machines.

The last Tasmanian sub-branch with poker machines, Devonport, has agreed to remove its machines by the middle of the year, in return for more financial support for veterans services from the state branch.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has ruled out exempting NSW regional pubs and clubs from its cashless gaming card rollout, as Nationals MPs call for sensible reform when it comes to poker machines in the bush.

The premier said no regional carve-out would take place under his leadership.

It’s the conservative side of politics ( NSW Liberal Party - Dom Perrottet) that is taking the lead on a poker machine plague that has alarmed communities and voters. Chris Minns has refused to offer bipartisan support for a mandatory, cashless gambling card for all NSW pubs, clubs and casinos.

AGR Chief Advocate Tim Costello joined Sky News Australia to discuss the increased demand for late-night poker machines for venues in New South Wales. "No other vested interest in Australia, let alone Australian history has had this sort of power...These spiking of applications are another sign of [pubs and clubs] predatory greed."