Government vows to do more to save kids from hot cars
As a 14-month-old boy clings to life after being found unresponsive in a hot car outside a Point Cook hotel, the state government is vowing to do more to prevent these tragedies.
VIC News
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The state government has vowed to look at new ways to stop parents leaving kids in cars outside gaming venues as a critically unwell toddler clings to life in hospital.
A 14-month-old boy was found unresponsive in a car outside the Brook Hotel in Point Cook as his mother allegedly played pokies for up to five hours during Wednesday’s scorching temperatures.
His 32-year-old Gladstone Park mother was on Thursday charged with negligently causing serious injury and reckless conduct endangering life.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos will consult health and child safety experts on messages outside gaming venues in light of the incident. She said she was prepared to look at “every opportunity to help get this message out to parents”.
“It’s a tragic set of circumstances and it is a very clear reminder about the risks of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle, particularly on a hot day,” Ms Mikakos said.
“My thoughts are with this little baby. I will keep talking about this for as long as it takes. It is very disappointing that anyone would not be heeding this message.”
Detectives have obtained CCTV footage of the car park, which will form part of their investigation. The charges against the mother could be upgraded and homicide detectives called in if the toddler does not survive.
Anti-gambling experts said the case was a stark reminder that poker machines were “powerfully addictive” and could impair rational thought.
“Once you are in front of a machine, the capacity for rational thought diminishes rapidly, particularly for people who have a serious addiction,” Monash University associate professor Charles Livingstone said.
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“Pokies have features making them very difficult to get away from, in some cases people wet themselves at the pokies and even wear nappies. They should not be underestimated.”
He said reforms should be enacted in Victoria, including:
COMPULSORY nomination of the amount of money users are willing to gamble;
MANDATORY 10-minute breaks every 50 minutes;
REMOVING addictive features of games.
It was 33C in Point Cook when the baby was pulled from the car on Wednesday afternoon. His mother will appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on January 23.