Have your children watched a footy match recently? Well, if they watched AFL on TV they also consumed about 50.5 separate episodes of sports betting marketing, from TV and stadium ads, to footy jumpers…
The role played in ‘normalising’ gambling in sport and society by the likes of online bookmaker Tom Waterhouse was examined by the ABC’s Four Corners program.
AAP/Paul Miller
Last night, ABC’s Four Corners investigated Tom Waterhouse’s heavily marketed entrance to the online Australian sports wagering industry.
Along the way it showed the ways in which the gambling industry…
Gai Waterhouse and John Singleton in happier times: their acrimonious split and subsequent stewards' inquiry has typified the culture of Sydney.
AAP/Paul Miller
The Gai Waterhouse-John Singleton horse racing imbroglio has the feel of fiction. Its cast of characters could easily spring from the treatment for a new Underbelly series or the pages of a Peter Corris…
Is online gaming the next billion-dollar industry? The state of New Jersey is betting on it.
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In the recent Hollywood science-fiction epic, Cloud Atlas, based on David Mitchell’s sprawling novel, the capitalist dystopia of Neo Seoul in 2144 is depicted as part of a world state called Unanimity…
Gambling tax reform should be a part of a gambling harm minimisation tax package.
Gambling provides Australian state governments with an average of 7.3% of their own taxes, about $5147 million, according to ABS data for 2010-11.
Victoria (10.8%) and New South Wales (8.6%) earn above…
In sports-loving Australia, damaging its integrity ultimately undermines supporter confidence and enjoyment.
AAP/Rob Cox
The Australian Crime Commission’s report on organised crime and drugs in sport has unleashed a storm amongst sports fans, particularly those who follow the clubs or codes so far implicated. Use of new…
Evidence shows most people did not gamble away their carbon tax compensation, despite media claims at the time.
AAP
Like many policy issues in Australia, the public debate and media coverage on the relationship between government payments and spending at electronic gaming machines or ‘pokies’ is sensationalist and exaggerated…
Casinos have the capacity to drive economic benefits – but must avoid becoming an enclave with little connection to the surrounding city.
AAP
Barangaroo, on Sydney’s harbour, is no ordinary development.
It has been promised that the 22-hectares of former industrial land sitting on the western edge of the CBD will transform Sydney both culturally…
The government’s reforms to gambling this week, including to the pokie machines seen here, have been described as “watered-down”.
AAP/Paul Jeffers
In an agreement announced on Wednesday, the Greens indicated support for the Australian government’s legislation (described almost ubiquitously in the press as “watered-down”) on poker machine pre-commitment…
Gambling companies sponsor and advertise at grass roots sporting clubs throughout Australia.
MRHSfan
I really enjoyed sitting down with my kids and watching the Olympic Games. In the process of watching amazing sporting triumphs we also learnt multiple ways to gamble, all at the tap of a finger.
During…
Provocative artworks, such as Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca, have drawn a steady stream of tourists to multi-billionaire David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart.
AAP
It was March last year when I sat down in the chaotic New York office of a leading international tax attorney to conduct an interview for a book I was writing on the campaign against tax havens. But rather…
With £50m likely to be bet on the Olympics, there are plenty of opportunities for trouble.
fictures/Flickr
London 2012 will be the first Olympic Games with very public betting opportunities for all events. One estimate for bets to be wagered in the United Kingdom during the Games is £50m.
Work has been underway…
The fact a pleasurable behaviour is done to excess does not necessarily mean it’s an addiction.
PhotoCatcher
I am a Warcraft widow, an affectionate term given to those who have “lost” a partner to World of Warcraft (WoW) as a result of excessive game-playing.
I have first-hand experience of the way games such…
A successful gamble on climate will require more than a lucky guess.
kfergos/Flickr
Imagine a six-sided die with four red faces, one green face and one blue face.
I am going to roll the die, and before rolling I will ask you to predict which colour it will land on: red, green or blue…
Mick Malthouse and his wife celebrate after Collingwood won the 2010 AFL grand final.
AAP/David Croslingv
Michael “Mick” Malthouse is one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football.
A premiership player for Richmond in 1980 he subsequently coached the then Footscray Bulldogs to a…
“Fairfax looks very exciting,”: mining magnate Clive Palmer expresses an interest in media.
AAP
The mining industry is used to having its voice heard in Australian public debates, so it should come as no surprise that mining billionaires such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer would consider buying…
Apart from minor changes, action has been delayed until 2017.
OctopusHat
Tension around pokies reform came to a head on Saturday when Prime Minister Julia Gillard broke her agreement with independent Tasmanian MHR Andrew Wilkie to implement timely reforms to address problem…
Andrew Wilkie has withdrawn his support for the Gillard government.
AAP/David Beniuk
The Gillard government finds itself in the same position it held at the start of 2011.
The withdrawal of support from independent Andrew Wilkie means that, like this time last year, the government holds…
Andrew Wilkie must decide whether to walk away from the Gillard government.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As speculation about Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s commitment to gambling reform grows, Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie is weighing up the pros and cons of a compromise deal with the government…
GPs have a greater role to play in screening and treating problem gambling.
AAP
The Greens yesterday released the party’s problem gambling discussion paper. The paper advocates, among other things, for general practitioners to play a greater role in screening and treating problem…
The Coalition’s gambling paper proposes voluntary pre-commitment but misrepresents the evidence.
The Coalition last week released its Policy Discussion Paper on Gambling Reform, rejecting the government’s mandatory pre-commitment scheme on poker machines as a measure to reduce problem gambling.
Topping…
Former rugby league player and convicted match-fixer, Ryan Tandy will likely not play the game again, but who’s really to blame?
AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
I’m a relatively well-disciplined guy. In my brief time in this world, I’ve managed to complete a degree, quit smoking, and exercise thirty-odd kilos of self-indulgence away.
But if there’s a TV on in…
AFL and NRL clubs say they face financial losses if punters like this are forced into a pre-commitment scheme.
AAP
The Federal Government’s plan to introduce pre-commitment systems on pokie machines in order to reduce problem gambling has become a major political headache.
A campaign by Clubs Australia targeting Labor…
Could “antiusability” be incorporated into gaming machines?
awwstin
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – Addiction to gaming machines (or “pokies”) is of growing concern in Australian society. In Victoria alone there are 30,000 of these hi-tech poker machines with many in suburban…
Taxpayers were shortchanged $3billion in Victoria’s ill-fated auction of licences last year.
AAP
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – How do pokies cause harm? People addicted to the pokies lose one hell of a lot of money.
Because they lose one hell of a lot of money they do not eat well, get into debt, lose…
When you know the numbers, things get a whole lot easier.
Roberto Bouza
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – Some say “punting is a mug’s game”. But is this always true, or can an astute gambler make long-term profits?
Certainly not from casino games. Casinos make profits by paying less…
Sadly, there’s no magic button to stop excessive gambling.
Mick Tsikas/AAPimage
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – Why do some people develop gambling addictions while others can dabble for years at the pokies or the track without issue?
The Productivity Commission’s 2010 report on gambling…
Betting can be fun, but it’s not worth losing your shirt over.
William West/AFP
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – The idea that Australians love to gamble is so firmly established that we rarely pause to question it.
This is true whether we picture Chinese and British “diggers” passing time…
Gambling harms extend beyond those with the gambling problem, the signatories to the letter argue.
AAP
A number of public health experts have written a letter to the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Parlimentarians in support of the mandatory pre-commitment system for poker machines. The signatories…
Karl Bitar should be open about his contacts with government in his new role.
AAP/Danny Rose
The former National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party, Karl Bitar, has been appointed Head of Government Affairs for Crown Ltd, operators of Melbourne’s Crown Casino and Perth’s Burswood.
It’s a…
People without basic financial services may approach loan sharks when emergency strikes. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciscel.
Around 15.6% of Australian adults have limited or no access to basic financial services like a transaction account, a credit card or insurance, putting them at risk of predatory lending, a new study has…
