gambling

Been meaning to elaborate on this and not just quote but haven't had time yet...
c/o Crikey

Although Labor has traditionally had closer ties to the gaming industry than the Liberals, family friendly Mark Latham has announced a new gambling policy on radio in Adelaide today. The Age - ALP reveals problem-gambling plan:

With 300,000 problem gamblers in Australia, the Opposition leader said the
country needed a national standard to overcome the issue.

Under a Latham Labor government: Cash advances on credit cards within gaming venues would be banned Daily cash withdrawals within gaming houses would berestricted to $200 on debit cards Centrelink would establish family income protection plans for problem gamblers And a national standard for the location of ATM facilities in gaming venues would be introduced.

Gee, we wonder how this will go down with the gambling industry that fleeces Australians of more than $15 billion a year when you considers some of these grubby connections with the party supposedly representing battlers: Former NSW Labor identity Joe Meissner is president of the Australian Poker Association. Former NSW Premier Barry Unsworth was a long-time TAB Ltd director. Veteran Labor strongman John "Bruvva" Ducker was chairman of poker machine giant Aristocrat until last year. Former Queensland Labor Treasurer Keith de Lacey sits on the Cairns Casino board. The Beattie government awarded an online gambling licence in 1999 to a company linked to ALP figures, including former deputy leader and jailed paedophile Bill D'Arcy. Hawker-Britten have done lots of work for gaming outfits, including being paid by the NSW Clubs not to work for the NSW Hotels.

Labor loves holding functions at race tracks and casinos across the country. Latham himself confesses to enjoying a punt at the races even though his father's ugly punting habit left their family hard-up for years. Isn't it time Labor put some distance between it and Australia's most destructive and sinful industry? Afterall, it is the Labor states which are creaming off most of the
revenue and you have Peter Beattie auctioning off more poker machines licences right now.