This is madness. Here we are in the poorest state in Australia, with thousands of problem gamblers and one of the highest numbers of poker machines per capita in the world, and the State Government refuses to contemplate even just reducing the number of machines. Seems the revenue is too important for Premier Bartlett whose talk about governing compassionately is discredited by his inaction on dealing with the root cause of the numerous health, financial and social problems caused by problem gambling.

Shame on the Premier, and shame on his Government, for failing to act boldly to help the most vulnerable members of our community. So too shame on the lot of them for their financial mismanagement of the issue, not least because the real costs of problem gambling far outweigh the tax revenue generated by the machines.

May we look forward to a donation by Federal Hotels to the Federal Labor party?
Surely the Federal government should have seen this coming. The U.S. method of food stamps would be a better way to go, even tho’ there is evidence that they can be traded.