Supreme Court battle for poker machines at Commercial Hotel in South Morang dropped
The owners of a South Morang hotel have withdrawn an application to have more poker machines installed in the problem gambling area.
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WHITTLESEA Council has won a year-long Supreme Court battle to prevent more poker machines reaching vulnerable Whittlesea gamblers.
The win came after the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) withdrew an appeal to have 40 poker machines installed at the Commercial Hotel in South Morang.
At present the hotel has no poker machines.
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Whittlesea mayor Lawrie Cox applauded the decision and said it was a “significant outcome for the community and means one less pokies venue in the municipality”.
The win comes amid the Pokies Play Whittlesea campaign, which is calling for a crackdown on access to poker machines in Whittlesea after Alliance for Gambling Reform data revealed residents crippled by gambling were losing almost $300,000 a day to poker machines.
Mr Cox believed the campaign had been “instrumental” in ALH withdrawing its application.
Four of the top 11 venues for poker machine losses in the state are owned by ALH and are in Whittlesea.
Whittlesea’s dire addiction to poker machines needed to be stopped because gambling was linked to high levels of mortgage stress, family violence, crime and family breakdowns, Mr Cox said.
ALH’s plan to install poker machines at the Commercial Hotel was declined by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation in 2016.
VCAT reviewed the decision last December and also declined the proposal, resulting in ALH taking court action.
Australian Hotels Association Victoria chief executive Paddy O’Sullivan declined to comment on the application withdrawal, but said poker machines were an “entertainment offer for customers” which had been offered by hotels in Victoria since 1992.
ALH declined to comment.
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