Australian Greens renew fight to ban gambling machines

The NSW Greens party wants to phase pokies out of bars over five years due to the rise in gambling losses.

Australia.- The New South Wales Greens party has renewed its call to ban gambling machines in Australia. It believes the country can afford to do without an industry worth AU$3.1bn (US$2.21bn) a year. It wants pokies to be phased out from bars within five years and from other venues within 10 years.

The Greens propose financial support to offset some of the lost revenue. They also want a complete ban on gambling ads on public transport and at sporting events.

The call comes after it was revealed that players in Victoria lost nearly AU$1bn on slots in the past four months. Meanwhile, a study by the Australian National University found that 13.6 per cent of Australian children were exposed to some level of at-risk parental gambling.

Michael Miller, an Australian correspondent for the Washington Post published an article this week detailing the effects of slot machines. In his article, Miller stated: “Australia is home to less than half a percent of the world’s population but has 20 per cent of its pokies.”