The " Entertainment " Issue !

In the 2015/16 financial year eight billion dollars was lost on poker machines in New South Wales.  The actual spending on poker machines was eighty billion, hence the figures do support the contention that these gambling machines are not entirely black holes.  They do return a high percentage of the money played to the player.

Poker machine statistics are carefully compiled by NSW Liquor and Gaming and a further breakdown reveals that $ 5.4 billion was lost by people playing the machines in registered clubs. These clubs usually support one of the sporting codes or have an altruistic reason for being and poker machine profits have long been the main financial support base that keeps sport alive in Australia.

The Greens are keen to pass legislation to require the monthly publishing of gambling data to individually show what amount of money was wagered at each of this states clubs and pubs and what profit was gained by the registered owner of the machines.   In Victoria, this information is published by that state's regulator on a bi-monthly basis.

We do have a number of politicians in Federal parliament who aim to outlaw poker machines in Australia and obviously this information appearing in national newspapers would add grist to their mill.   It could be seen as the thin edge to a wedge.   We have always been a gambling nation and there has always been a wowser element keen to make any form of wagering illegal.

It is a fact of life that the average person seems to enjoy at least the odd flutter in which they either win or lose money.   Every year the amount wagered on the famous Melbourne Cup reaches new heights, and most people remember the glory days when poker machines in NSW were the only licensed " slots "  permitted.   Every day bus loads of tourists poured over the borders from Victoria and Queensland for the sole purpose of accessing these machines in this states clubs.

Inevitably, the lure of a state tax bonanza saw these machines become legal in most other states and they have become a burr under the saddlecloth of the anti gambling crowd.   Unfortunately, some people become addicted to gambling and this extends to its many forms.   It seems that the purists have poker machines firmly in their sights and usually that includes politicians who claim the right to tell the public how they must spend their money.    They usually have very constricted ideas as to what they consider " entertainment " !

There are some countries where all forms of gambling are illegal just as there are some countries that forbid any form of intoxicating liquor.   That demand is met by criminal elements who make a lot of money by providing out of public sight facilities. Inevitably, this is cushioned by graft and corruption of public officials who are paid to " look the other way ".    That is not the form of entertainment we would like to see established in Australia.

This push to restrict gambling in Australia is doomed to fail.  History gives the best lesson on how abstinence was rewarded with crime.   Before the days of the TAB illegal SP bookies held court in the back bar of most pubs every Saturday - and most people are aware of the United States " prohibition " experience.