Gambling losses in Casey, Dandenong hit $250 million
THE numbers are not good for southeast pokies punters hoping to hit the jackpot.
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THE numbers are not good for southeast pokies punters hoping to hit the jackpot.
The sheer scale of the problem has been laid bare in a Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation report, where the City of Casey ranked second worst council area in the state for gaming losses, behind Brimbank.
In their 13 venues, Casey players frittered away more than $131 million at 913 machines between July 1 last year and June 30.
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Neighbouring Dandenong recorded the highest losses per person in the state and was the third worst area overall for the amount of money wasted on electronic gaming machines.
Players in Greater Dandenong fed a combined $121 million into 958 pokies at 15 hotels and clubs.
The report also found two of the state’s four worst losing pubs were in the southeast — the Berwick Springs Hotel cost gamblers $18.94 million and the Keysborough Hotel netted $18.25 million.
Cranbourne Information and Support Services executive officer Leanne Petrides said gambling related harm in the City of Casey often led to people seeking their help to pay for food, rent and bills.
“Unfortunately poker machines tend to remove a lot of income from communities that can least afford it. That’s why we find a lot of poker machines in some of the more vulnerable communities, such as suburbs within the City of Casey,” Ms Petrides said.
Casey acting city planning manager Kathryn Seirlis said the council wanted the State Government to extend a cap on the number of gaming machines across the whole municipality.
“A citywide cap would provide certainty to the remaining parts of Casey to keep the EGM density consistent across the municipality,” she said.
Ms Seirlis said the council was recently successful in opposing an application by the Lynbrook Hotel, in the current capped area, from getting an additional 25 machines.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform has called on the State Government to bring in lower bet limits, trading hour reductions and machine redesigns to curb problem gambling. Director Tim Costello said he was “deeply disturbed” by the recent figures, which totalled nearly $2.7 billion across the state.
State Gaming Minister Marlene Kairouz said they were freezing the total number of pokies across the state and imposing strict withdrawal limits at venues.
She said there were resources available for those who believed they had a problem with gambling.
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