I don't know who in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) came up with the idea to regulate gamblers, but I'm pleased. Unfortunately for them, I had the same idea about 20 years ago, and they should of as well. This is the problem with democracy....decision making is just too slow. This problem has been around for a long time....but successive governments have done nothing.
Really the gaming industry has no justification for being upset. Gambling must give them a payback every 1 year. These machines were so lucrative, and the reason is that they are 'bad business', no better than drugs. Making money off people's vulnerability. These people have no sense of self-respect. Develop a business which is not based on others suffering. Why do people find it so hard to come up with business ideas. I can come up with a good business idea on average about once every 1-2 weeks.
This will be very effective regulation as well. I can't imagine problem gamblers will be sharing ID's around....even if that were possible. It could plausibly result in the creation of illicit gambling dens, so I spoke too soon....however there is good reason to think that this will not occur readily, and illegal dens will be restricted to city locations.
The notion that such regulation is 'unAustralian' is pathetically the type of response you'd get from an Australian business group. The leaders of Clubs Australia Peter Newell ought to oversee a training program of his members - how to be ethical Australians. Finally the law is grasped some aspects of reality. Unfortunately, with democracy, we can expect to wait another 20 years for a major policy initiative. Any ideas what it could be?
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Author
Andrew Sheldon
