Carlton powerbroker Bruce Mathieson attacks AFL over ‘moralistic’ view on poker machines

AS THE AFL looks at ways to lessen clubs’ reliance on poker machine revenue, Carlton powerbroker Bruce Mathieson says the league has no right to impose “moralistic” views on the competition.

BILLIONAIRE Carlton powerbroker Bruce Mathieson has launched an attack on the AFL and its drive to wean Victorian clubs off poker machines.

The pokies king said AFL chairman Richard Goyder, a former boss of retail giant Wesfarmers, should not impose “moralistic” views on the competition.

“He comes from a business which has run poker machines, sold alcohol, sold cigarettes ... and here he is leading the charge,” Mathieson said.

STUDY: CONCERNS OVER POKIES, VIOLENCE LINK

Wesfarmers, a WA-based conglomerate, owns pokies pubs, supermarkets and bottleshops.

Goyder said last year he “hates” pokies and that the “custodians of the game” needed to tackle the reliance of clubs on the industry.

Mathieson, a former Blues director who has gifted hundreds of money-spinning poker machines to the club, criticised Goyder’s stance.

Bruce Mathieson says the AFL shouldn’t impose “moralistic” views.

AFL chairman Richard Goyder.

Asked if AFL clubs like Carlton should be ashamed of their pokies cash, Mathieson said: “Behave yourself ... you’re getting tied up with all these moralistic people who come up with all these phenomenal ideas.”

The Blues benefactor scoffed at yesterday’s Herald Sun story detailing a Monash University report linking AFL-controlled gaming venues with a rise in family violence.

“Wait on — who wrote the report? All these people who are anti-anything are like zealots,” Mathieson said.

“Cigarettes are legal, alcohol is legal, all these junk foods are legal ... and (pokies) are completely legal. Clubs in NSW have been operating poker machines since 1956.

“You can print all this ... he (Goyder) is not there to run anything else but football.”

The AFL declined to respond to Mathieson’s comments.

Mathieson no longer holds an official position at Princes Park but remains an influential Carlton figure.

Goyder said of the AFL’s $94 million-a-year pokies habit last year: “We’re going to have a good look and see whether there’s the opportunity to at least lessen the reliance.

“Some clubs have got a high dependency on them at the moment, and it’s not a matter of saying, ‘Well let’s just stop it’. You’ve actually got to work through a way of doing it. It’s something we and the clubs are looking at, at the moment.”

The league has since established a working party known as “Project Fruit” to investigate reducing pokies revenues.

Yesterday’s controversial Monash report claimed the AFL’s dependence on pokies was “strongly at odds” with the league’s respect and responsibility policy.

North Melbourne is the only Victorian AFL club without pokies.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire confirmed his club was seeking to exit the pokies industry.

Eddie McGuire says AFL clubs and pokies is a delicate thing. Pic: Getty Images

“It is not an easy thing to do because we can’t send the place broke at the same time,” he said on Triple M.

McGuire added: “I’ll give you one suggestion ... we should be able to sell the poker machines to Crown casino and have them all in the one place.

“So that you can absolutely legislate that that is a gambling place. Move them out of the suburbs.”

The Pies boss said he had been lobbying governments for two decades about a solution to the pokies scourge.

“For 20 years I have been wracking my brain and going to governments, state and federal, with ideas on how we can get pokies out of the suburbs and do you know how much of a result I’ve got? Zero,” McGuire said.

“The point is, the state of Victoria is addicted to poker machine revenue.”

Geelong yesterday confirmed its “long-term future does not include a reliance on gaming revenue”.

“In recent years we have sought to seek new sources of revenue to ensure that the club has financial stability to allow an exit from gaming,” a Cats spokesman said.

“We have reduced by more than 50 per cent the number of machines we are currently utilising.”