Tim Costello was interviewed on Radio National Breakfast on 1 March 12 by Fran Kelly, in his role with the National Churches Gambling Taskforce. He made a couple of interesting points. Some we probably know, or have some sense of: $5Bn/year is lost by addicted gamblers; Australia has the most dangerous kind of poker machine - High Intensity.
He made a couple of less obvious but equally, if not more troubling points. Costello believes most politicians, from all sides of the political divide are anti-pokie. Many or most are intimidated by the campaigns run by the cashed-up pro-gambling industry - the Clubs. The politicians say the industry is too strong, they need protection from them and the industry is too powerful to take on.
We should be outraged by this. It is simply not acceptable that any industry has the capability, the means and the will to intimidate parliamentary representatives. We do know that other industries exert extraordinary power, especially the Oil lobby and mining, but for politicians to admit they are powerless and intimidated beggars belief. Moreover, what do they think they are elected for? It is certainly not to roll over for a cashed-up arrogant industrial lobby that pushes all out of its path to profit. We deserve and we should expect politicians to have more nerve and more moral fibre than this.
This state of affairs deserves an independent inquiry.
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