Parliamentarians Andrew Wilkie and Nick Xenophon's attack on gambling won't do much good - you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink. They are consulting without listening. They have a "one-eyed' approach to the issue. There minds are already made up. Reducing the amount per "game" may help. Enforcing a limit on gambling for each player is not on. It is an infringement of people's rights, just like the Aboriginal Intervention which restricts the amount of welfare Aboriginals get for non-clothe, non-food purchases.
Setting withdrawals at $250 per individual on ATM machines in clubs is a silly idea. What is to stop a gambler going next door to another club or hotel to gamble more than his/her limit? There are ATM machines everywhere. It would be very easy to use the identity of a relative or to pawn the family silver for cash. If the program is successful clubs will go bankrupt and state government coffers will be dramatically reduced. Taxes will have to be increased. Government will have to fund charities that currently get money from clubs.
Paul Gordon the chief executive of Narrabri RSL says the MPs are not negotiating - they are laying down the law. The CEO says they are ridiculously narrow minded and out of touch with what the community wants and needs. Country clubs rely almost exclusively on income from gambling machines. City enterprises can get income from entertainment and even higher quality meals.
Enforcing behavior with tougher laws have never worked. Take for example the law to rid the US of drugs. The problem is greater today than it has ever been. Abolition of alcohol was a mistake that the US did not learn from.
Setting withdrawals at $250 per individual on ATM machines in clubs is a silly idea. What is to stop a gambler going next door to another club or hotel to gamble more than his/her limit? There are ATM machines everywhere. It would be very easy to use the identity of a relative or to pawn the family silver for cash. If the program is successful clubs will go bankrupt and state government coffers will be dramatically reduced. Taxes will have to be increased. Government will have to fund charities that currently get money from clubs.
Paul Gordon the chief executive of Narrabri RSL says the MPs are not negotiating - they are laying down the law. The CEO says they are ridiculously narrow minded and out of touch with what the community wants and needs. Country clubs rely almost exclusively on income from gambling machines. City enterprises can get income from entertainment and even higher quality meals.
Enforcing behavior with tougher laws have never worked. Take for example the law to rid the US of drugs. The problem is greater today than it has ever been. Abolition of alcohol was a mistake that the US did not learn from.
Policing gamblers will be very expensive indeed. All clubs will have to be connected to a network nationwide. There are far too many hotels to include them as well. They will just hop from club to hotel then back to the original club the next day. The real issue is not being faced. Gambling addiction is a biological problem. Gamblers suffer from an illness.
