AUSTRALIA - Charles Livingstone gives an excellent and comprehensive round-up of the current state-of-play in Australia as the govenrment tries to radically reform their gambling laws against a vigorous industry campaign. ABC News. Sentator Nick Xenaphon speaks about leaked Clubs Australia report in a radio interview. The apparently unintended release of estimates from the industry suggests that [...]
Posts Tagged ‘gambling lobby’
Xenaphon jumps on industry leak…. plus more on “pokiegate”
Monday, October 10th, 2011Private strategy paper shows pokie reform not as harmful to clubs as they say
Sunday, October 9th, 2011AUSTRALIA – A presentation by Club Training Australia, prepared by consultants Dickson Wohlsen, was seized upon by independent SA senator Nick Xenophon yesterday as evidence of a “misleading and dishonest” industry campaign against poker machine reform. The report estimates Clubs will lose 10 to 20 per cent of gaming machine revenue under the worst-case scenario not [...]
Leaked memo shows pre-commitment works
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011AUSTRALIA - A leaked Treasury executive minute, prepared a year ago for the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, says a pre-commitment trial known as PlaySmart, which was conducted in South Australia, ”shows that pre-commitment is effective at encouraging better money management and more informed decision making, particularly among problem gamblers”. The Treasury acknowledged the trial was limited [...]
Australian pokie battle round up
Monday, September 26th, 2011AUSTRLALIA - Nearly 80,000 newsletters opposing new mandatory pre-commitment rules around gaming machines will be sent out across the Northern Rivers as part if Clubs NSW’s ongoing campaign against the rules. Northern Star Anti-pokies campaigner Andrew Wilkie says one of Australia’s most powerful gambling groups is threatening to sue him. The Mercury. PRIME Minister Julia [...]
Campaign directly attacks marginal Labor MPs
Thursday, September 15th, 2011AUSTRALIA - The clubs industry is upping the ante in its battle against poker machine reforms, personally targeting vulnerable Labor MPs and ministers in a new letterbox drop. Brisbane Times.
Leagues clubs’ warning on pokie losses
Friday, September 9th, 2011AUSTRALIA – TEN NRL leagues clubs have warned they will cut millions in funding to their football teams – and even pull out altogether – because of the federal government’s plan to limit how much people can gamble on poker machines. Herald Sun.
Judge frees Alabama casino lobbyist from jail temporarily
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011US – A casino lobbyist who volunteered to go to jail after he pleaded guilty to offering bribes to legislators was set free Wednesday so he can deal with tax issues. He will be sentenced next spring, when he likely will go back to prison. Business Week.
Black, Hispanic Aldermen Join Forces On Chicago Casino
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011US -The members of the Chicago City Council’s Black and Hispanic Caucuses are pushing for a Chicago casino and slot machines at the city’s airports, despite the effect easy access to gambling may have on the communities they represent. Chicago Sun Times. What neither Brookins or Solis mentioned, however, is these constituencies are also the [...]
Wary Connecticut lawmakers consider response to Massachusetts casinos
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011US - With Massachusetts lawmakers poised to bring three casinos to Massachusetts, a push that appears to have gathered momentum since a monumental collapse last year, lawmakers from Connecticut proffered a warning: Don’t get your hopes up. “If Massachusetts does move forward and we stay in a prolonged economic downturn, they may find that the rewards [...]
Gambling comes to Massachusetts
Friday, August 26th, 2011US - A fierce competition is shaping up for gambling licenses in Massachusetts, with nearly a dozen casino moguls and developers jockeying to build four facilities that would be allowed under new state legislation. Governor Deval Patrick and the leaders of the House and Senate yesterday embraced a proposal that would license three casinos and one [...]
