Conference highlights Casey pokie crisis

WHEN it comes to poker machines and problem gambling, Casey is up there with the worst, according to Casey councillor Steve Beardon.
He said this opinion had been expressed to him from other council delegates and gamblers association representatives at the International Pokies Impact Conference (IPIC) on Tuesday.
Cr Beardon spoke at the conference about pushing for the removal of pokies from across Victoria.
He was the only councillor speaking at the conference but was not representing Casey Council.
Cr Beardon said Casey had one of the highest populations of problem gamblers in the state and this had to change.
He said while hosting a forum at the conference, the views from other delegates on pokies in Casey had been very negative.
“Casey certainly did not get off lightly with many questions asked of Casey Fields and why council is supporting as many as 95 machines at this site, especially when Cranbourne already has 346 machines,” he said.
According to Gambler’s Help community educator Michelle Brown, there are 12 venues in the City of Casey that have electronic gaming machines (EGMs).
Ms Brown said figures showed there were a total of 879 EGMs in Casey, which equated to 5.6 machines per 1000 adults.
She said in Cranbourne alone there were five venues with a total of 346 EGMs.
She said the net EGM loss per adult was $688, while the net amount of money lost on each EGM was $122,047, an increase of 3.3 per cent since last year.
She said cumulative losses since 1992-93 added up to $1073 million.
Guests at the conference included The Reverend Tim Costello and Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand chief executive John Stansfield.
Cr Beardon said bank note acceptors needed to be removed from pokies, access to ATMs removed, hours of operation reduced, and harm minimisation taken seriously by governments.
“It was a real eye opener to network with so many dedicated activists all with the same view – no pokies,” he said.