Council backs pokie cuts

GREATER Dandenong Council has backed a proposal to reduce the number of pokie machines in disadvantaged areas.
This month, the council voted to endorse a Monash Council submission to the Municipal Association of Victoria which proposed reducing the maximum pokie bet from $5 to $1 and giving councils some of the gambling losses.
The proposal sought changes to how the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation assesses the “community benefit” of applications for pokie machines.
In January, the VCGLR approved five extra pokie machines at Noble Park RSL, stating the “likely social impact of the proposal will be positive”.
The RSL sub-branch had stated that the $450,000 estimated windfall would help it run its welfare office for veterans and war widows.