It’s illegal to play two-up on any other day except Anzac Day. Now as gambling goes, two-up is relatively harmless. And yet the powers that be have decided to ban this form of betting, presumably to protect punters.
At the Alliance for Gambling Reform, of which I’m a part, we are not against gambling. We are just against con jobs. And tragically, too many RSL clubs rely on the biggest and most deadly con job in Australia: poker machines, which are currently designed by addiction specialists to create addiction.
If two-up is as harmless as one, or maybe two, quiet beers on a hot summer’s day, poker machines are the polar opposite. They are the crack cocaine of gambling. They are designed to turn innocent Aussies into addicted Aussies. That is at the centre of the business model.
So why on Earth would the RSL clubs want anything to do with the pokies business?
By choosing to run the current crop of poker machines, which are misleading and deceptive by design, too many RSLs are forgetting what our Diggers were actually fighting for.
Australian servicemen and women always believed they were fighting for freedom, justice and to protect the vulnerable. Not one Digger ever died defending the right of an RSL club to screw over his or her fellow Australians.
And yet, too many RSL clubs continue to treat unsuspecting Aussies like cannon fodder. Over and over again, misguided and overpaid club managers battle to win over more tainted poker-machine money.
Screwing over your mates? Now that is unAustralian.
Luckily there are people in the RSL movement who remember what the Anzac spirit is really all about, and they want nothing to do with this misleading and deceptive product. People like former NSW RSL president Don Rowe realise that the poker machine industry abuses the memory of our Anzacs.
Don clearly knows that the sick and manipulative poker machine industry uses the memories of our fallen soldiers to distract us from the deliberate and deceptive destruction caused by the industry’s product.
And just last week a survey of RSL members in Tasmania received harsh feedback that operating the current crop of pokies is at odds with what the RSL stands for, and what our servicemen and women have always fought for.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
RSLs could actually keep operating pokies, as long as they committed themselves to con-free machines. Con-free machines are machines that don’t create addiction because they don’t contain the secret computer features that turn a regular punter into a victim of the poker machine industry.
In a few weeks time, law firm Maurice Blackburn will launch a court case designed to prove current poker machines are deliberately designed to be misleading and deceptive. For the first time ever, this will allow us to define what a “con-free machine” is.
This is the way forward.
By committing to “con-free machines”, RSLs will be embracing the spirit of a game of two-up, and they will finally be turning their backs on deliberate, deceptive addiction.
For a century, Anzac Day has been a day when we all pause to remember the men and women who died in so many battles.
But if we really care about their memories, surely we’ve got to also remember the values they were actually fighting for.
I really hope you’re right Tim. But the rivers of money being poured into those machines by the wretched and long abused punters, have everyone from clubs to Governments well and truly hooked.
Expose the con tricks in simple language, it may prompt a few punters to notice the baits being laid.
Yesterday many people enjoyed a game of Two Up and some venues donated the funds to charity. We agree this is harmless fun that bonds veterans and the broader community on ANZAC Day. In fact, the Problem Gambling Australia website hosted by the Commonwealth Government states “For most people, gambling is a form of entertainment that is enjoyed responsibly.”
The Gambling Industry Productivity Report 2010 found that 70% of Australian’s, or 16.8 million people participate in some form of gambling. Of this, three percent or 500,000 people have been identified as problem gamblers. The RSL is often criticised for being a venue that is not attractive for young people. This would then indicate that our clubs are not somewhere that the bulk of problem gamblers are frequenting as young people (18-24 year olds) spend more on poker machines than any other age group.
The 31st Edition of the Australian Gambling Statistics (1988–89 to 2013–14) is produced by the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office (QGSO) in cooperation with all state and territory governments. This edition outlines 10 forms of gambling that are available in Australia of which one is poker machines. The growth of online gambling particularly betting Apps is changing the industry as a whole. The final page of the report shows that the total number of gaming machines located across Australia has dropped by 2,102 or two percent from 2001-2014.
The RSL business model is quite different to that of Casinos or online gaming models that do not inject any funds back into community programs. Each State has a fundraising model that varies and some do not include poker machines at all such as Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. RSL Tasmania’s business model is phasing out poker machines from some Clubs. In Victoria the revenue must go by law back to the veteran community and one way it has been used is in emergency relief assistance grants valued at nearly $400,000, to over 60 veterans and their families last year. It also needs to be recognised that the clubs industry employs 96,000 people (Clubs Consensus 2015) and paid $2.4 billion in taxation to the Australian Government that is used to benefit all Australians.
The RSL puts forward the statement made by former Prime Minister, John Howard in his book “The Menzies Era”, published by Harper Collins in 2014 where he writes:
“Licenced Clubs have for years been an integral part of community life in many areas of our nation in both city and country. They have been overwhelmingly beneficial to the great bulk of their membership. They have provided the priceless asset of companionship to many older Australians who might otherwise have led lonely lives. They have funded local sporting teams, backed charities and often acted as a local point for combined local action.” RSL NATIONAL
I don’t understand the necessity for Tim to use the ANZAC hook – the ‘con-free’ aspect was strong enough.
What has rarely been acknowledged is that originally Wilkie & Xenophon simply wanted machines limited to one dollar input but the industry refused point blank hence the excruciating & inevitable failure of the licence/self limiting idiocy which was doomed before it was uttered. As intended by Gillard et al.