By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
GREATER Dandenong Council is one of the first to join a proposed national alliance to lobby for poker machine reform.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform plans to advocate for measures to limit problem gambling such as $1 bet limits, greater local government say in pokies applications and greater caps on poker machines.
Last week, the council unanimously voted to join the alliance – which is led by Monash councillor Geoff Lake with support of academic Dr Charles Livingstone and World Vision chief executive Tim Costello.
Other proposed members are council peak bodies, welfare agencies such as The Salvation Army and Brotherhood of St Laurence as well as the Inter-Church Taskforce against Gambling.
According to government statistics, Greater Dandenong – one of the state’s most socio-economically disadvantaged areas – had the sharpest rise in pokies losses in 2014/15, up by $6.9 million to $117 million.
It is third in the state for losses behind Brimbank ($141 million) and Casey ($119 million).
Greater Dandenong councillor Matthew Kirwan, who will represent the council on the alliance, said it was important the council was leading a charge to tackle problem gambling.
One of the proposed reforms is beefing-up the “no detriment” test that requires pokies applicants to show their ventures won’t adversely affect residents, particularly in less well-to-do areas.
The alliance grew from the ‘Enough Pokies’ multi-council campaign before of the 2014 state election.
It is funded through private and philanthropic sources.
