The City of Greater Bendigo’s decision to take a neutral position on the Kangaroo Flat Sports Club’s bid for 12 more poker machines raises more questions than it answers.
The council’s policy clearly played a role in its decision, which could take the club’s total number of machines to 60.
Mayor Rod Fyffe even said that the state government’s view that Bendigo could have more poker machines was something he found very difficult, and he was positive that Bendigo had more than enough.
It’s easy to wonder if the council chose to take a neutral position rather than fight the application.
Perhaps the councillors see no point in fighting a losing battle.
If this is the case, the community needs to be prepared for the arrival 58 more gaming machines – taking Bendigo’s total to 615 – following the controversial auction of gaming machine entitlements by the state government.
Last year alone, punters fed more than $44 million into Bendigo poker machines.
It is a legal form of recreation, but research shows that it is those who can least afford to who lose the most – often including their family and their jobs.
We know that the state government is addicted to the revenue from gaming machines.
Maybe the only hope is that the newly elected state government will be able to resist the temptation of the revenue and put the well-being of the community first.
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