Victorians Lost More Than $2.5 Billion During 2014
The Australian gambling industry is flourishing as some of the top gambling establishments in the world look to expand their operations in Australia. There are currently plans to construct multi-billion dollar casino resorts in Queensland and Sydney and the state governments have already approved the licenses for these proposed projects.
The state of Victoria on the other hand appears to have a strong casino industry based on figures published by the Victorian Gambling Regulation Authority. Reports suggest that Victorians lost over $2.5 billion at the casinos during 2014, which was a 3% increase when compared to 2013.
The majority of cash spent by Victorians were on poker machines and the City of Brimbank topped the list with $140 million in losses, followed by the City of Casey with $119 million and the City of Dandenong came in third with $117 million.
The losses suffered by Victorian gamblers turned into revenue for the Australian casinos and income for the state in the form of gaming taxes. Yet these numbers are disturbing because the three cities that incurred the highest gambling losses are also cities that have the highest rates of unemployment and are home to refugees who often feel isolated and turn to the casinos to see if they can make some money to support them.
Gabriela Byrne runs an organization that helps gamblers with addictions in Victoria. In a statement, Byrne said
Poker machine venues become for people a place of hope, which is false hope. [It’s a place] where they go and don’t have to speak the language. They find themselves in an exciting environment. It’s set up to attract all your senses. It’s time we really look at what we can do to curb this problem to help people who can least afford it to go down further in the spiral of gambling losses
Byrne wants each state government in Australia to seriously address the issue at hand instead of putting forth temporary solutions that only scratch the surface of the gambling vice that many Australians are addicted to. One of the solutions that Byrne wants state governments to implement is the $1 bet limit at casinos that has been discussed before but never implemented.
There have also been reports of crime syndicates operating in Victoria targeting gamblers by offering them loans to gamble and when they find themselves in too deep of a hole, these loan sharks force these gamblers to get into prostitution or become a drug mule. The Victorian government will be concerned about the negative impact of the gambling industry and will be forced to come up with additional measures to address these gambling related concerns.
