Pokies under pressure

By Melissa Meehan
CITY of Casey residents and councillors held a meeting last week to discuss their plans to block the licence for 60 extra poker machines to be introduced to a new development Casey Towers in Narre Warren.
Eight community members and four councillors, mayor Colin Butler, Wayne Smith, Michael Farley and Paul Richardson, attended the meeting chaired by Jan Trezise.
Ms Trezise, a member of the Endeavour Hills movement which had blocked a number of pokies in the past, was a guest at the meeting.
“We fought a similar project three years ago and were invited to the meeting to provide the benefit of experience,” Ms Trezise said.
“I offered to chair the meeting so that everyone who attended the meeting had the opportunity to be part of the discussion.”
Grey Power Anti-Pokies drive leader and Berwick resident Terry Dance said that the meeting was constructive and helped put important issues on the agenda.
Ms Trezise said that the meeting’s primary focus was to discuss the agenda for the upcoming public meeting that the group will organise during early December.
“We discussed the inclusion of groups who were absent at the meeting but are opposed to the introduction of more electronic gaming machines to the area,” Ms Trezise said.
“Suitable speakers at the meeting were also discussed and it was decided that there should be a spread of representatives from organisations who provide support for problem gamblers and their families, academic researchers and people with personal experiences with these machines.”
Last year poker machines in Casey earned more than $111 million. Ms Trezise said that those figures would mean that gamblers lose about $126,500 on each machine.
“If you multiply this number by 60, there is potential that a further $7.5 million will be lost on those machines alone,” Ms Trezise said.
“It’s an alarming figure.”
Cr Paul Richardson was also present at the meeting and said that it is now time for the City of Casey and Victorian Government to take responsibility for the epidemic of increased poker machines in the state.
He describes the new development, to be located at the eastern gateway to the Fountain Gate Narre Warren Activity Centre, as an excuse to abuse and rip off community members of their hard-earned savings.
“The future gambling costs at this institution would be better spent on their family needs as placing food on the tables, paying their bills and other basic payments,” Cr Richardson said.
Cr Richardson also said that his main concern in relation to the Casey Towers development was that the additional 60 poker machines to the area would not be part of the 879 machines currently capped in the City of Casey.
Congratulating members of the community for standing up to the proposal, Cr Richardson said that he hopes that if the group was successful in their attempts to block the 60 machines, it would act as a deterrent to other gaming bodies looking to enter the area.
“The fight has begun. We have a long way to go but we will succeed,” Cr Richardson said.