Could there be light at the end of the gambling tunnel?

Some lessons are only learned, it often seems, when a monetary penalty is imposed, when someone sues for civil damages. The tobacco industry is a case in point. Science could not put them in their place, but damages claims can. It is to be hoped that - in time - gambling will suffer a similar fate.

To-day, in Australia, we may see some light at the end of a tunnel. We hope it is not extinguished.

A well-heeled problem gambler has established at law that he has a case against Crown Casino here in Melbourne.

Currently, gambling venues get away with grand larceny. They can lure and entice to their hearts' content and disclaim any responsibility. Problem gamblers can steal from their employers and lose the money over the gambling tables or down the machines but gambling entities are not held liable for receiving stolen property and are never forced to repay it. Families and their property can go down the drain because of a problem family member but no corporate entity is ever held to be liable.

To-day, Justice David Harper may well have set in train events which could change all that. Miss Eagle sincerely hopes so.

NOTE: Justice Harper was appointed a Queens Counsel in Victoria in 1986 and in New South Wales in 1989 after a distinguished career at the Victorian Bar which began in 1970. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 1992. He is currently Chair, International Humanitarian Law Advisory Committee of the Red Cross (Victorian branch). He has had a long and active involvement with the Victorian Bar (1980-91) and was the Chairman in 1990-1. Justice Harper served as a part-time Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission from 1991 until its abolition by the Liberal Government in 1992.

Put the wood on the pollies and the pokie promoters - not Woodend

Does it never occur to anyone why so many politicians are in favour of foisting gambling of one form or another on the population and so many of us are not? Could one of the reasons be that the business people - machine manufacturers, hoteliers, casino proprietors - find ways to influence/buy/cajole a politicians vote - his/her thought processes even? But anonymous Joe Blow and Mary Smith who don't want anything to do with gambling have only a vote each and they don't become known to the influencers/buyers/cajolers.

How wonderful to see Woodend standing up for itself and its community!

Can we go and help? My marching shoes don't gather much dust! I'm not too old to carry a placard yet!

Miss Eagle lived in Tennant Creek when pokies were introduced into the NT. Restaurants suffered. My hairdresser suffered. My boss, the Leader of the Opposition at the time, received visit after visit from concerned business people. But then small business people - important in their own communities - are considered to be in the same small fry category as Joe Blow and Mary Smith. But they are the life and lifeblood of our communities. Particularly those who, in Woodend and other areas of country Victoria, have been innovative and creative and continue to bring business to their towns.

Good on Woodend! Give them a go! And email me, Woodend, if you need Miss Eagle to come to the rescue.

Poker Machines: Rabbitohs give the one armed bandits the flick

Congratulations to Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court! Poker machines are to go from the Rabbitoh's South Sydney Club. Don't like the chances of seeing that other Souths institution, Souths Juniors, doing away with theirs.

Miss Eagle hopes that Russ and Pete find their other plans paved with integrity and gold so that other people take notice - particularly the State politicians.

Australia has wall to wall Labor governments in the states with the likelihood of making it floor to ceiling as well should Rudd win government. It is sickening to see how these supposed pillars of the working class rip off working class and welfare recipient citizens and take their cut as well. The Australian Labor Party clearly has made taking the poor an art form.

Casinos, Pokies, Governments: a smart card?

Miss Eagle has received a comment to this post from DizzieLizzie. DL's points are so well made, in the view of Miss Eagle, that they deserve greater prominence than a comments link gives so they are posted here below. Miss Eagle would welcome further comment.

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Reality is that the one sure method of tracing and recording the spending of pokies players, that also would give poker machine consumers the protective tools to better regulate their own spending, is 'smart cards'.....and these have been consistently and conveniently rejected by govts and the gaming industry alike!

No wonder!

Using mandatory 'smart cards', pokies players could keep accurate spending records, thus could more readily quantify (and claim) their recorded 'losses' on poker machines. The government etc does NOT want that information to be so readily available!

Loss on pokies is already causing the govt. huge embarrassment.

The last measure it would willingly introduce is a card that empowers pokies consumers to limit their lossses...and that may also provide a spending receipt that incidentally is required in our consumer law! (Refer Fair Trading Act 1999 161a) So not only are pokies being operated illegally....our govt. is irresponsibly allowing this to occur, even though a 'smart card' would also stop self-excluded or under-aged players from playing.

For that benefit alone the card is worth introducing. It may also protect innocent families by providing a warning of over-spending, so that homes and businesses and family security are not lost!

Crown Casino is at huge fault for misleading the public about dangers of poker machines....and so is the 'puppet' government who is over-protecting the gaming industry, instead of acting to protect all citizens, who deserve greater 'duty of care'.

The pokies problem is NOT the 'too hard basket' at all Denis. It is easy to fix.

Ban poker machines OR make them safer to use! Simple!

The government AND the gaming industry MUST tell citizens the full truth...and that is that many more people are harmed by pokies than is reported. ALL citizens will be paying for the huge rise in public health and legal costs caused by pokies addiction for far longer than the government who now ignores effective reform will remain in power, at least!

Right now the govt. is desperately trying to hide the fact that the majority of people surveyed by local councils want pokies gone from the suburbs ....or banned completely!

So much news contains the 'good' that pokies supposedly do for communities....but we are not fully told of the business collapses, loss of employment, divorces, thefts, suicides, mental illness that has occurred. They are glossed over and our Victorin communities for instance, simply cannot handle losing billions each year to two businesses, Tatts and Tabcorp....while the govt. does not get enough of the pie to ever cover its losses. Taxpayers cover THAT!!

We are also led to believe that pokies addicts are a tiny group of irresponsible social misfits...they are 99% NOT. The machines are designed to addict. NORMAL people get addicted to these insidiously dangerous machines, that use subliminal, hypnotic and 'conditioning' techniques to put NORMAL people unknowingly into a trance. The machines are also 'rigged' to have purposeful 'near misses' etc...to promote over-spending.

It is too easy to say that individuals are to blame if they lose control on poker machines. As humans we have been seduced and exploited by these machines, that purposely hook in to our normal hard-wiring...to addle our brains....by design!If we allow dangerous products into our communities...WE as a WHOLE population are to blame!! Would we allow a car with no brakes to be on our roads? Most likely we would not...Perhaps we may though if we misguidedly believed that by doing so, we may be gaining from another's loss! Hence our failing and irresponsible govt. allows the myth to continue...that pokies addicts are in a minority....that individuals are to blame here...and our courts STILL blame the human victims...those who were told that pokies would be FUN!!

Pokies addicts did not expect to be harmed by a recreation that was presented as being harmless for all but 1-2%!! Being normal people they did not think that they were in such a 'misfit' category....prior to their addictions taking hold...waking up too late to make up for their debilitating loss!

Our courts should be blaming the true criminals...the government, the rapacious gaming industry and those who KNEW full well the real dangers of these machines BEFORE they were released on an unsuspecting population.

We were told that poker machines would save our economy. What rot!!Now we have ALL seen the real tragedy and cost of poker machines....and people who allow these defective products to remain are just as greedy and culpable as the government who is now hooked on them...OR the gaming industry who bleeds us dry!!

So when our communities are financially destroyed....who will we blame then? Just 1-2% of 'irresponsible' people?? C'mon.

Wake up Australians!! This is OUR problem!!

Look at Western Australia...the only Australian state who resisted the lure of these poker machines. NOW it is booming! That is NOT just due to mining! It also results from keeping billions of dollars that eastern states lose...away from the gaming industry!!....to be placed in the hands of greengrocers, butchers, hairdressers, dentists, clothing retailers, restauranteurs....and all of the other tradespeople who LOSE business over in the east.

And WHY would we want poker machines BANNED or gone from our neighbourhoods...if we felt their benefits rather than their pain???

Crown complicit in a crime?

Here we go again. Another mug punter has gambled his life earnings/savings away - this time to the tune of $20 million +. He misappropriated funds from a company of which he was the sole director. He is to be sentenced next week. The judge says he will do time. What are the odds, dear Reader, that Crown - where he did his dough - will retain the proceeds of his crimes? Will the company have redress? It's almost certain his family won't.

Casinos, Pokies, Governments: complicit in crime?

Are casinos, and poker machine (slot machine) venues - together with governments - complicit in crime? Are they accessories after the fact in crime?

You see, dear Reader, when a gambler steals money - from an employer, a family member or friend or some other source - and that gambler is convicted for stealing the money the casino, poker machine venue, or the government (who receives a cut of the takings), does not have to re-imburse the owner of the money. The casino or pokie venue keeps the proceeds of the crime.

Now, to Miss Eagle, this seems a bit odd. If Miss Eagle innocently purchased a stolen vehicle, when the stolen item is tracked down it would be taken from Miss E and returned to its rightful owner - and Miss E would suffer the financial burden with her only recourse to take civil action to reclaim her costs. If the local pawn shop unwittingly receives stolen goods, they are taken from the pawn shop and the police endeavour to return the goods to their rightful owner.

So why are the financial proceeds of crime treated differently?

And there is one important difference here. The purchaser of a stolen vehicle or the unwitting pawn shop owner has a brief, once only dealing - and that is not necessarily with the perpetrator of the crime - for the transmission of the stolen property.

Casino and pokie venues have a sustained relationship - at least over many long hours if not days, weeks, months, and years - with the perpetrator of the crime of stealing money. But how often do gambling venues query the long distance gambler? They are just happy to take the money.

In Australia and New Zealand, pressure is mounting for casinos and other gambling venues to use the electronic data collected about its patrons - usually through customer service marketing programs and surveys - to help identify problem gamblers.

In recent trials here are what two judges had to say:

In December, Sally Grossi was sentenced to a minimum 3-1/2 years prison for stealing nearly $2-million from her employer. She spent the stolen money on the pokies at Crown Casino. When sentencing Grossi, the judge lashed out at Crown.
Here's an extract of what he had to say.
Reader: In my view, cases of this sort, which are increasing in number, call for a consideration of legislation which would put the onus on Crown Casino and other gambling venues, to make reasonable inquiries to ensure that large sums of money continually being lost by regular customers, as in this instance, are emanating from a legitimate source. And in default of such inquiries, a civil liability should be imposed upon these venues to reimburse the victims of crimes of this nature.

Damien Carrick: And he's not the only judge, when sentencing a pilfering compulsive gambler, to point an angry finger at a casino.
Here's an extract of what a judge had to say as he sentenced Erick Tjandra to a minimum three years prison. Reader: Quite frankly, I regard it as the height of irresponsibility for the casino to have placed such a vulnerable person in the situation of gambling in what is called the Kerry Packer Room against the House. He was not Kerry Packer, he was not an Asian Prince, he was a humble bank clerk who unfortunately developed a gambling addiction beyond his means.

So, dear Reader, make up your own mind. Are casinos, poker machine venues, and governments complicit criminals when they retain the proceeds of crime? To help you make up your mind, you might like to listen to a recent Background Briefing program or you can read the full transcript here.

Gambling: addiction, pain, loss

Miss Eagle's friend over at The Nature of Robertson has had difficulty getting acceptance of his comment on the previous post. He thought that Miss E had deleted it. She hadn't. She had only deleted a comment which was reasonable enough but was from a site which promoted Philippine casinos. If anyone else is having problems with Comments, please advise. Meantime, Miss E's friend has emailed her and asked her to post his Comment on this site. As you will see, he feels rather strongly on this topic - and for very good reason.

So over to The Nature of Robertson - these are his views:

Let me declare at the outset my personal position.

I am against gambling.

I am a relative of someone who has incurred huge financial damage personally (as well as to me) from the abuse of (and by) Poker Machines.

I care less about the "High Rollers" because one assumes that they can afford to lose millions, or else the "gatekeepers" of the Casinos ought not let them in there in the first place.

My concern is with Poker Machines in clubs and pubs across Australia, where every day people spend their money for rent, money for food, money for shoes for the kids - none of which they can afford. Ken***tt single-handedly destroyed the lives of thousands of Victorian families when he turned just about every suburban and country pub into so-called casinos, and allowed Poker Machines in where they had never been allowed.

He did this to justify allowing his mate Ron to build his "Crowning monstrosity" on the Yarra. Even Jeff could see the inconsistencies there. So, he spread the damage, rather than prevent it.

Thousands of country Victorian businesses went to the wall as a result of the spread of Pokies; and thousands of little families and kids within those families suffered (and no doubt still do) as a result.

If you talk quietly amongst your friends about gambling debts, you will find a story amongst your workmates, and friends, of lives ruined by gambling. People seldom advertise this fact, but just ask around, and it will come out. And you will be shocked by the pain, the hurt, and the loss - in the suburbs, close to you.

Melbourne to Macau: Gambling, Packer and Ho, ho, ho

Gambling, whatever form it takes - whether high-stakes baccarat in high rollers' rooms in casinos with international patronage or card games on blankets in the bush where Aboriginal men and women gamble social security benefits - brings with it three things: corruption, crime and calamity.

It depends on your point of view whether you see such social detriment being outweighed by social benefit. Jeff Kennett, former Premier of Victoria, justified the social benefit in The Age this week.

Perhaps Jeff ought to enter into discussion with the citizens of Macau and explain the social benefit of gambling to them. True, gambling seems to be the whole reason for the continuing existence of Macau. The former Portuguese colony, now handed over to China, was coveted by Europeans as a significant and strategic port. Whatever may have been significant in the European discovery and annexing of Macau, gambling is the significant factor now. And it is causing problems.

Macau has overtaken Las Vegas to become the world's gambling capital and is enjoying rapid growth, but violent clashes on international Labour Day indicate that the small southern Chinese city is socially ill. Read more here.

Macau now has 22 casinos which generated total gambling revenues of 56.2 billion patacas (US$ 7.2 billion) in 2006. In contrast, Las Vegas generated US$ 6.6 billion last year.

And an Australian is getting on the bandwagon.

Jamie Packer is Australia's richest man with a net worth of $5.5 billion. The Packer family has long interest and dominance in the Australian media. In recent years, however, Packer interests have entered the Casino business. The gambling business interest has increased over the years. The Packers have gone from being a media company with some gambling interests to a gambling company with media interests to the latest move which splits the business interests completely. This will expedite gambling (or - the word in gloss and spin circles - gaming) investments particularly those with the Ho family, who until 2002 held a 40 year gambling monopoly on Macau, and their company, Melco, with whom Packer is in partnership in opening Macau's 26th casino.

Crown Casino in Melbourne significantly impacts the city's economy, as Jeff Kennett says. Crown Macau, it is expected, will significantly impact Macau. The Crown will be Macau's 26th casino but will be Macau's very first six star hotel.

If, dear Reader, you are a concerned and ethical investor, you might like to note the financial institutions with whom the joint venturers are in cahoots:

• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
• Bank of America Corp.
• Barclays Plc
• Deutsche Bank AG
• UBS AG

And, where does all this leave the mug punter - high roller or day tripper?

At Crown in Melbourne, there are reports that Crown could face fines of up to $1 million following an "underhanded" rule change that could increase its take from some gamblers by 40 per cent.

Meanwhile in Macau, because of an increase in gaming tables it is expected that revenue returning to gamblers will head downward. Up the tables and down the pay back. Mmmm....

Forbes says that in a recent research report, Morgan Stanley predicted that the average daily turnover per VIP gaming table would drop 22% to about $27,823 this year and dive another 50% to $13,608 a day in 2010. The average chip turnover per mass gaming table will plunge 21.7% this year to $3,266 a day and hit $1,912 in 2010, Morgan Stanley said. Mmmm....

And the locals....

Migrant workers (in Australia they are frequently referred to as "guest workers"), mainly from the PRC and Southeast Asia, made up approximately 10.3 percent of the work force. In May several thousand workers and union members marched in demand of more effective measures to prevent the hiring of illegal workers and to limit the number of imported workers (see section 6.b.). They often received less than local residents for performing the same job, lived in controlled dormitories, worked 10 to 12 hours per day, and owed large sums of money to labor-importing companies for purchasing their jobs. They had no collective bargaining rights and no legal recourse in the case of unfair dismissal. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006 : U.S. Department of State [Miss Eagle wonders how many work at casinos and will work at the Ho-Packer casinos?)

Ekklesia reports that the locals hit the streets again:

Thousands of people in the former Portuguese enclave in China took to the streets on 1 May 2007 to expressed dissatisfaction at poor governance in the city, citing corruption. They also noted unhappiness at sharp increases of imported labour and hikes in property prices. During the May Day clashes, 10 protesters were arrested and police fired shots into the air as a warning, accidentally injuring a passer-by.

Jamie Packer and Lawrence Ho might be happy. Their respective gambling addicted governments might be happy. Clearly not everyone is - neither in Macau nor Melbourne.

Who is addicted? Who gives a damn?

Why is Miss Eagle not surprised at this? Why do people consider that those - governments, hotels, clubs, casinos - who promote gambling give a damn about the community? They don't give a damn about the individuals who come to their venues and are entrapped by the insidious web of gambling. So why would they give a fig for individuals en masse woven into a community.

State Governments are as addicted to poker machine revenue as any hotelier or any gambling addict. Meanwhile at a national level our so-called anti-drugs, zero tolerance Federal Government is addicted to revenue raised from the two major drugs of addiction which are, between them, responsible for so many deaths, so much violence, so many broken marriages, so many car accidents, so many hospital and prison admissions: alcohol and tobacco.

When governments get serious about drugs and addictions and rid themselves of revenue gained from them, we will have sure evidence that they give a damn about the community. When governments give a damn, the community parasites of hotels, clubs and casinos might learn to give a damn too.

Otherwise the motto, to paraphrase Rhett Butler, is "Frankly, Citizen, we don't give a damn!"