Do you think Jay Ash and Senator Rosenberg are watching?

When the Casino Cheerleaders, such as Chelsea's Jay Ash or Senator Rosenberg are asked about the failures 'casino' gambling elsewhere, they point to the superficial successes and the flashing lights, filled with assurances that somehow the Commonwealth will 'get it right.'

Last year's legislative mess revealed that Beacon Hill is incapable of 'getting it right' when huddled behind closed doors, genuflecting to the Industry.

The Commonwealth is truly blessed with the opportunity to consider the impacts of predatory gambling elsewhere. The Business Model only works by creating new gamblers and ever more gambling addicts.

The article below highlights some of the problems. Click on the link for additional information:

Families, friends and employers ripped off to finance gambling habits
By Susanna Dunkerley
From: Herald Sun


•Gamblers stole $77m in three years - report

•Nine robberies to feed poker machine habits

•More than $13m lost on poker machines



GAMBLERS are stealing tens of millions of dollars a year to support their habits.
In just three years gamblers were convicted of stealing $77 million from family members, friends, employers, the tax office, Centrelink and hotels, the Herald Sun reported.

A report by private corruption investigation group Warfield & Associates throws weight behind federal moves for a crackdown on problem gambling.

The study shows 190 convictions were made for cases of gambling-linked fraud between 2008-10. The convictions, and 147 subsequent jail sentences, were for cases where the proceeds of crime were gambled, or where gambling debts were the motivation for crime.

In 12 of the cases, more than $1 million was stolen. Several topped $5 million.

Poker machines were the most common way to gamble stolen money, occurring in 56 cases, including nine robberies to feed poker machine habits.

More than $13 million in stolen money was lost on pokies, an average of $230,000 a person.

The report noted poker machines were "particularly addictive", and cited one case in which a woman aged 50 stole $4.6 million to feed the machines.

While poker machines were the most common way to gamble stolen money, the biggest amounts of money were laundered at racecourses, more than $25 million on horse racing alone.

Frauds also gambled in casinos and online at services including Centrebet, where a 33-year-old man spent $2.9 million, which he stole from his employer.

Report author Brett Warfield said poker machines were the main destination for stolen money. "The impact on perpetrators, their families and some of the smaller organisations has been devastating," he said.

The Gillard Government has used the same line to push poker machine reform, agreed to in a deal with independent MP Andrew Wilkie to form government.

It plans to introduce a mandatory pre-commitment scheme by 2014, which would require gamblers to carry cards to set limits.

Daily withdrawal limits for ATMs near pokies would be set at $250, with possible exemptions for clubs and pubs in small rural towns.

The Government has threatened to use Commonwealth powers if the states and territories, which reap millions in gaming revenue each year, don't come on board by May.

The scheme was recommended by a productivity commission inquiry that found gambling adversely affects up to 500,000 Australians a year.