“Most people don’t get help”
Former Aussie senator Nick Xenophon, well-known as a crusader against slot machines, is taking a softer line on gambling these days. Instead of his former pledge to eliminate all slots in his home state of South Australia, Xenophon says he is more interested in minimizing the social problems caused by gambling.
In an interview with the Australian, he said, “Reducing the harm caused by poker machines is pretty fundamental, but it would have to be a suite of measures, including more people getting assistance and reducing the number of people getting hurt in the first place. But most people just don’t get help when they have a serious gambling problem.”
According to CDC Gaming Reports, Xenophon is making slots a key campaign issue with current state Premier Jay Weatherill.
“We introduced changes which were blocked in the upper house by the Liberals and we’d happily re-propose those, but at the moment there’s not a majority of support for them,” he said. The Liberal party says slots are not high on their list of concerns, and state Liberal leader Steven Marshall has ruled out a coalition with Xenophon’s SA Best party to gain power.
Concerns abound in Australia about the proliferation of slots and the staggering number of losses. A December report in the Sydney Morning Herald said Australian gambling losses “have hit an all-time high, with punters burning through nearly $24 billion in 12 months,” more than half of which goes to pokies at clubs and pubs across the country.
A recent analysis by the Australian Gambling Research Centre said an estimated 6.8 million Australians are regular gamblers, and most compulsive gamblers are unemployed low-income young men ages 18 to 29.
Last month, the Tasmanian Labor Party said it would ban slot machines from pubs and clubs in that state if it wins its 2018 state election.
