Pokies record tipped

By Shaun Inguanzo
GREATER Dandenong is on track for a record spending spree at the pokies despite recent statistics that reveal it is one of the state’s poorest cities.
Problem gambling has alarmed the City of Greater Dandenong council, which in August last year was interviewed by the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation (VCGR) as part of consultation for gaming licence arrangements beyond the year 2012.
The State Government promised to remove 89 of the city’s pokies last year after VCGR revealed residents blew $105 million on pokies in Greater Dandenong in the 2005-06 financial year.
But this week it revealed it will not finish the job until December this year – almost a year and a half after the figures were released.
Greater Dandenong residents earn an average weekly wage of $342 according to Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 census data.
Their take-home pay would be about $300.
And the $105 million figure averages out at $1068 spent per adult in the city which would about $20 per week.
In consultations with the VCGR, now publicly available, City of Greater Dandenong social development worker Hayden Brown expressed concern at the pokies losses incurred by the city’s poorest residents.
Mr Brown said problem gambling was often worse than recorded due to peoples’ ability to conceal their troubles.
“In addition to people with serious and persistent gambling related problems, there seems to be a wider range of people, perhaps a different segment of the population, who simply persistently lose more money than they can afford,” he said at the August 2006 consultation.
“Their lives are not gravely unbalanced by the gambling losses but the consequences of that would be that they, and most particularly their children or other dependants, would live less decently as a result.
“I think that is an important deterioration of the quality of life and a concern for us.”
The VCGR is yet to update the June month of its 2006-07 financial year figures, but already the City of Greater Dandenong is on track to smash the $105 million barrier it set last year.
The figure currently sits at $100.6 million, with June takings to come.
Last year’s June raked in almost $9 million and so far every 2006-07 monthly figure has been higher than the 2005-06 counterpart.
A State Government spokesman said the deadline for pokies removals was December 2007.
“The City of Greater Dandenong will lose 89 machines from 16 venues (an 8 per cent reduction) by 18 December, 2007, as part of the recent round of regional caps announcements,” he said.
The spokesman said the strategy was working to reduce problem gambling despite the VCGR figures showing the problem ballooning in Greater Dandenong.
Since the 2002-03 financial year, Greater Dandenong’s pokies expenditure has jumped from $98 million to last year’s $105 million.
When asked if the State Government would break down pokies earnings by venue, the State Government said reporting by local government area (LGA) was enough.
“The Bracks Government introduced monthly reporting of gaming machine expenditure by LGA and we believe this is an appropriate reporting framework.”