Electronic Locusts

The community of Castlemaine is engaged in a fight to prevent an organization based in another shire from installing 65 poker machines on Victorian government property at the Castlemaine railway station. The organization we have formed to spear head our efforts is called EPIC which stands for "Enough Pokies in Castlemaine." There are already 35 poker machines in the Cumberland Hotel in Barker Street, Castlemaine. That is 35 too many, because every dollar put into one of these electronic locusts is a dollar that can't be spent with local businesses. We want a strong community that is able to take care of our children and elderly and for that to happen we must have good viable businesses in the area.

Organizations like clubs and pubs who have these machines are tax collectors. So businesses pay tax twice at least, the yearly income tax and the one that is invisible; that is when the dollars that would have been spent by Castlemaine's people on goods and services from local companies, have been put into the poker machines. Members of clubs and patrons of pubs who have these machines get their drinks and food at a discount paid for by the forlorn gamblers. That is an artificial market. If the same sort of thing happened at the Australian Stock Exchange the ACCC would investigate the scam. This practice puts a burden on cafes and restaurants trying to produce wholesome food and drink at a competitive price.