2016-05-05
Adjournment speech in Partliament: My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, and it relates to the matter of 10 new pokies machines that have been approved by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation at the Langwarrin Hotel, because the venue plans to build a new children’s playground. The Greens are very concerned by this decision and the association it creates between children and pokies.
The government does have decision-making guidelines for the commission relating to children’s play areas, but these have fallen short in this case. The decision by the commission is problematic because it explicitly links the poker machine expansion to the children’s playground. It is the key social benefit identified from the increased revenue from more pokies machines. We know having more pokies machines will encourage more gambling. The commission itself expects an increase in losses by punters of up to $470 000 annually, on top of the $7.6 million already lost at the hotel.
The government guidelines say that a venue should not be operated in such a way that encourages a responsible adult to gamble while children in their care are on the premises, yet installing a children’s playground and specifically linking that to the expansion of poker machines creates that clear encouragement.
The guidelines require staff to ensure that children are not left unattended while parents gamble, but when there is a gaggle of children running around a playground and often one parent watches a few children, how can staff really tell which children are being watched by a known adult and which are not? I have no doubt that a children’s playground will create an incentive for more people to bring their children to the venue, increasing children’s risk of exposure to pokies.
While some people might come to a hotel for a meal and the playground, the addictive nature of the pokie machines means that many will be tempted to step away for a few minutes for a punt. Unfortunately a few minutes can become much longer when those problematic machines are involved. The decision by the commission also sets a nasty precedent that will encourage more pokies venues to install children’s playground equipment in order to get more machine entitlements. This would also increase children’s risk of exposure.
I ask the minister: will the government update the guidelines to ensure that children are better protected from pokies harm?