This is my submission to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in opposition to Darebin RSL's application to add fifteen extra poker machines and extend their opening hours:
If I walk five minutes from my front door to the south, I find the Junction Hotel, with a pokies room open until 4am. If I walk 5 minutes to the North, I find the Cramers Hotel, open till 4am. To the east we have the Olympic Hotel with similar opening hours. Why does the CIty of Darebin need another pokies venue with extended opening hours?
I speak as someone who has suffered harm from poker machines; much of this harm happened at the Darebin RSL. My losses have amounted to hundreds of dollars, if not thousands. This venue is a three minute walk from my house. I am someone who tends to gamble in the early hours of the morning, as do many others, and I don’t want the temptation of another late opening venue on my doorstep.
I have self excluded from the RSL via the Australian Hotels Association. This has proved pointless, as my self-exclusion has never been challenged by venue staff. When my wife and I brought this up with venue management, they answered that banning me is impossible as they are too busy & have too many excluded gamblers on their books. My understanding is that their only resource is a wall bedecked with dozens of small photographs of excluded patrons, tucked away in an area rarely checked by venue staff. Is this a venue that practices responsible gambling?
The Darebin RSL is a private club, requiring all guest members to sign in before entering, but in my experience the front desk is never attended. Anyone can wander in off the street straight to the gaming area without meeting a staff member. These lax procedures directly caused me harm from gambling.
I have self-excluded from all the gaming venues in Preston, and have been refused entry by door staff at Cramers Hotel, which proves exclusion can be effective with adequate care and attention.
The Darebin RSL positions itself as family & community friendly by offering cheap meals and entertainment, but this is standard practice for every pokies hotel in the region. It’s simply an enticement to get more punters through the door. Buying a $10 meal is hardly a saving if the patron then loses $300 on the pokies. And lose they do - last year Darebin residents lost a total of $4.4 million on these pernicious machines at the Darebin RSL. That’s $30 per head of population. When you consider that the vast majority residents aren’t draining their wallets here, one must assume that a few are burdening vast losses.
What community benefits result from the increased opening hours? Long after the kitchen closes, the entertainment ceases and even the TAB shuts, the pokies will continue flashing away. The RSL forecasts additional revenues of $3.3 million by extending their hours to 2 am.
Where does this money actually go? The organization positions itself as not for profit. Why has it only committed to a paltry $15,000 to the local community?
I met with a local school principal yesterday morning, Mr Mark Tierney of Sacred Heart Primary School in Bell St, Preston. He told me that the RSL asked for his support for this application, based on their contributions to the school. However, when he checked there was no record of any support, financial or otherwise. Four local school principals have chosen to object to the application rather than support it.
The Darebin RSL claims that it cannot be commercially viable without poker machines. However, the Coburg branch operates 3.5km away without a gaming license. In WA there are 129 RSL sub branches, none of which have machines. Why does the RSL in Victoria have such an addiction to these machines? To quote from their website “The RSL was formed in June 1916 by troops returning from WWI with the purpose of preserving the spirit of mateship formed amidst the carnage and horror of battle, to honour the memory of the fallen and to help each other whenever required.” There’s nothing matey or honourable about being transfixed by these machines for hours on end and trudging out with an empty bank account.
If a single RSL branch gets $4.4 million from gambling losses, one has to question the financial model and the ethics of the organization. Poker machines are tools for siphoning money, often from those who can least afford it.
