Pressure building on AFL from Melbourne City Council to develop a plan to wean clubs off pokies

MELBOURNE City Council — one of the league’s key partners — will vote next week on a motion calling on AFL to develop a funding plan to wean its clubs off soaring gaming machine profits.

PRESSURE is building on the AFL to rid itself of its $100 million a year pokies habit.

The Melbourne City Council — one of the league’s key partners — will vote next week on a motion that calls on the AFL to develop a funding plan to wean its clubs off soaring gaming machine profits.

A second pokies protest will also be staged by gaming activists before Saturday’s Hawthorn-Melbourne match at the MCG.

The motion before the Future Melbourne Committee is expected to pass with the backing of Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.

The council — which offers the AFL financial and logistic support for the annual Grand Final Parade — has had recent commercial dealings worth about $6 million with Carlton, Richmond and North Melbourne

It inked a $3 million, 10-year agreement last month for ratepayers to have access to facilities at Collingwood’s Olympic Park headquarters.

Key AFL assets including Etihad Stadium also fall into the council’s geographical zone.

The council became a tier one member of The Alliance for Gambling Reform last month, donating $25,000 to the anti-gaming body.

The motion before the committee “requests the AFL to develop a funding support plan to encourage all AFL clubs to transition away from reliance on poker machines”.

It authorises a councillor to “write to the AFL on behalf of council informing them of council’s position”.

The motion, moved by Cr Stephen Mayne, also “commends the North Melbourne Football Club for being the only AFL club based in the City of Melbourne which has no poker machine operations”.

The nine other Victorian AFL clubs ripped about $90 million from gamblers’ pockets last year.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan with Hawthorn skipper Luke Hodge and CEO Stuart Fox, the club that makes the most profit in the AFL from pokies. Picture: Getty

The Alliance says the AFL should use its vast cash reserves to rescue clubs from their dependence on pokies cash, which has been linked to social and family harm.

“I think the AFL should be ashamed that its constituent clubs are bleeding $100 million a year out of Victorian poker machine operations,” Cr Mayne said.

“It’s the richest sporting code in the country and it doesn’t need to prey on problem gamblers to get by.”

Alliance leader Rev Tim Costello will again lead a protest of the AFL’s gaming habit before the bounce of the Hawks-Demons clash.

Hawthorn, which markets itself as “the family club”, profits more from pokies than any other AFL team.

“Local governments have more integrity on this issue than anyone else, that’s why they’re stepping up,” Costello said.

“The AFL has something like $80 million sitting in its financial reserves right now. It needs to buy their teams out of this shameful mess.”

Cr Mayne is running as an independent in the seat of Menzies in the upcoming federal election.