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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/07/stop-the-bets-morrisons-focus-on-offshore-betting-wont-help-problem-gamblers
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Stop the bets! Morrison's focus on offshore betting won't help problem gamblers | Stop the bets! Morrison's focus on offshore betting won't help problem gamblers |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Now Scott Morrison wants to stop the bets. The social services minister on Monday announced a review into the use of illegal, offshore bookies, that he says are “predating upon Australians right across the country”. | Now Scott Morrison wants to stop the bets. The social services minister on Monday announced a review into the use of illegal, offshore bookies, that he says are “predating upon Australians right across the country”. |
| He used the occasion of Father’s Day to reflect on the 400,000 Australians with a gambling addiction, pointing to the higher rates of of family violence, neglect and poverty “that come with the problem gambling curse”. | He used the occasion of Father’s Day to reflect on the 400,000 Australians with a gambling addiction, pointing to the higher rates of of family violence, neglect and poverty “that come with the problem gambling curse”. |
| Related: Former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell to lead offshore online gambling review | Related: Former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell to lead offshore online gambling review |
| Unmentioned – and outside the terms of the review – is the type of gambling that still ensnares two-thirds of problem punters. They aren’t online, nor watching Tom Waterhouse’s mug on TV, but inside Australia’s pubs and clubs, feeding cash into the pokies. | Unmentioned – and outside the terms of the review – is the type of gambling that still ensnares two-thirds of problem punters. They aren’t online, nor watching Tom Waterhouse’s mug on TV, but inside Australia’s pubs and clubs, feeding cash into the pokies. |
| Around 64% of people who seek treatment for gambling are addicted to poker machines, according to the latest figures. | Around 64% of people who seek treatment for gambling are addicted to poker machines, according to the latest figures. |
| Per-capita, the only places with more pokies than Australia are gilded casino statelets, such Monaco, Sint Maarten and Aruba. In raw numbers, just one state in the world runs more poker machines than New South Wales – that would be Nevada, the home of Las Vegas. | Per-capita, the only places with more pokies than Australia are gilded casino statelets, such Monaco, Sint Maarten and Aruba. In raw numbers, just one state in the world runs more poker machines than New South Wales – that would be Nevada, the home of Las Vegas. |
| It is difficult to reconcile Morrison’s concern for the plight of problem gamblers with the way his party has treated the chief source of gambling addiction in Australia. | It is difficult to reconcile Morrison’s concern for the plight of problem gamblers with the way his party has treated the chief source of gambling addiction in Australia. |
| In 2010 the Productivity Commission estimated that some 41% of poker machine revenue derived from problem gamblers. It recommended a slew of harm-minimisation measures, including capping maximum bets at $1, and forcing punters to set a limit on how much they could lose in one sitting. | In 2010 the Productivity Commission estimated that some 41% of poker machine revenue derived from problem gamblers. It recommended a slew of harm-minimisation measures, including capping maximum bets at $1, and forcing punters to set a limit on how much they could lose in one sitting. |
| A reform package incorporating these measures – championed by independent senator Andrew Wilkie – withered in the face of a savvy, cashed-up public campaign by the pokies industry. | A reform package incorporating these measures – championed by independent senator Andrew Wilkie – withered in the face of a savvy, cashed-up public campaign by the pokies industry. |
| strong donations story in @smh. here's coincidence of gambling money and progress of 2010 wilkie reforms @poisontofu pic.twitter.com/9voV3KIUBO | strong donations story in @smh. here's coincidence of gambling money and progress of 2010 wilkie reforms @poisontofu pic.twitter.com/9voV3KIUBO |
| Australian Electoral Commission records also show, in the months after Wilkie announced his reforms, a $1.5m spike in donations to the major parties by Clubs NSW and the Australian Hotels Association, directed overwhelmingly at the Coalition. | Australian Electoral Commission records also show, in the months after Wilkie announced his reforms, a $1.5m spike in donations to the major parties by Clubs NSW and the Australian Hotels Association, directed overwhelmingly at the Coalition. |
| Little attempt has been made to obscure this cosy relationship. In a video announcement at the 2013 election, the Liberal party’s gambling policy was literally introduced by the chief executive of Clubs NSW, Anthony Ball. | |
| In power, one of the first acts of the Abbott government – backed by Labor – was to repeal the anaemic reforms that had manage to pass the previous parliament. When one measure, putting a withdrawal limit on ATMs in gambling venues, survived, the then social services minister Kevin Andrews simply ordered his department not to “engage in active monitoring of compliance”. | In power, one of the first acts of the Abbott government – backed by Labor – was to repeal the anaemic reforms that had manage to pass the previous parliament. When one measure, putting a withdrawal limit on ATMs in gambling venues, survived, the then social services minister Kevin Andrews simply ordered his department not to “engage in active monitoring of compliance”. |
| Recognising its own power, the poker machine industry has not wasted the opportunity to lobby for rollbacks of safety measures at the state level, too. | Recognising its own power, the poker machine industry has not wasted the opportunity to lobby for rollbacks of safety measures at the state level, too. |
| In NSW, the Baird government has signed two successive “memoranda of understanding” with the clubs industry, pledging (and following through on) tax cuts for big clubs; larger tax rebates; the easing of restrictions of casino-game terminals; and lifting the limit for pokies “smart-cards” to $5,000, up from $200. | In NSW, the Baird government has signed two successive “memoranda of understanding” with the clubs industry, pledging (and following through on) tax cuts for big clubs; larger tax rebates; the easing of restrictions of casino-game terminals; and lifting the limit for pokies “smart-cards” to $5,000, up from $200. |
| And – what are the odds! – within two months of the first agreement being signed, the clubs handed the NSW Liberals a $200,000 donation. | And – what are the odds! – within two months of the first agreement being signed, the clubs handed the NSW Liberals a $200,000 donation. |
| Gambling researcher Francis Markham has documented a similar relaxation of regulations in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. | Gambling researcher Francis Markham has documented a similar relaxation of regulations in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. |
| That said, a closer look at sports betting is welcome. Just how much Australians spend betting online is yet to be quantified, but gambling treatment clinics are already reporting a doubling and tripling in the number of people – particularly young men – losing vast sums, quickly. | That said, a closer look at sports betting is welcome. Just how much Australians spend betting online is yet to be quantified, but gambling treatment clinics are already reporting a doubling and tripling in the number of people – particularly young men – losing vast sums, quickly. |
| But on Monday, Morrison said new regulations on the 30-odd legal betting operators in Australia were not the primary focus of the review. | But on Monday, Morrison said new regulations on the 30-odd legal betting operators in Australia were not the primary focus of the review. |
| Instead, he said, it would look at “how we can better provide protections in the gaming environment for those who are legal operators, and to protect Australians who can fall prey to the offshore illegal sites”. | Instead, he said, it would look at “how we can better provide protections in the gaming environment for those who are legal operators, and to protect Australians who can fall prey to the offshore illegal sites”. |
| But are the legal sites offering much more protection for problem gamblers than their offshore colleagues? They comply with anti-money laundering provisions, and flash a perfunctory warning to gamble responsibly, but for addicts, “there’s not a lot” the legal sites do differently, according to Sally Gainsbury, a gambling researcher at Southern Cross University. | But are the legal sites offering much more protection for problem gamblers than their offshore colleagues? They comply with anti-money laundering provisions, and flash a perfunctory warning to gamble responsibly, but for addicts, “there’s not a lot” the legal sites do differently, according to Sally Gainsbury, a gambling researcher at Southern Cross University. |
| Related: Ka-ching! How the gambling lobby won the fight over pokie reforms | Francis Markham | Related: Ka-ching! How the gambling lobby won the fight over pokie reforms | Francis Markham |
| Financial counsellors, backed by Nick Xenophon, have already suggested changes that could rein the “uncontrolled” industry in. Banning bets on credit, stopping bookies from wooing punters with free trips to the races – these are not radical suggestions, but so far they’ve been ignored. | Financial counsellors, backed by Nick Xenophon, have already suggested changes that could rein the “uncontrolled” industry in. Banning bets on credit, stopping bookies from wooing punters with free trips to the races – these are not radical suggestions, but so far they’ve been ignored. |
| Absent any meaningful new safety measures, one has to ask what this review is for, exactly. To protect the addicts? Or the betting companies who want their money? | Absent any meaningful new safety measures, one has to ask what this review is for, exactly. To protect the addicts? Or the betting companies who want their money? |
| Morrison has found a new offshore enemy. Expect a move against illegal bookies when the review ends later this year. Just don’t mistake it as a measure aimed at helping problem gamblers. | Morrison has found a new offshore enemy. Expect a move against illegal bookies when the review ends later this year. Just don’t mistake it as a measure aimed at helping problem gamblers. |