Huge cost of pokie addiction

Danny Buttler, gaming reporter, and Mark Buttler December 6, 2004 GAMBLING-crazed Victorians have been sentenced to more than 200 years in jail for stealing at least $80 million from families, employers and clients. In the latest case, police are investigating whether $700,000 stolen from a life-saving Melbourne medical research unit was lost on poker machines. A Herald Sun investigation has found at least 55 Victorians have spent time behind bars for gambling-related crimes since poker machines and the casino were introduced more than a decade ago. Many of these criminals are first-time offenders. Gambling watchdogs and the legal fraternity fear a new type of criminal is being fuelled by addiction to Victoria's 30,000 poker machines. Welfare and anti-pokies groups have warned the lost $80 million -- a figure collated from newspaper reports of major cases -- is only the tip of the iceberg. With more than two centuries of jail sentences already imposed on gambling-addicted criminals, they warned that taxpayers would be footing a multi-million-dollar prison bill for years. "It's all anecdotal at present, but the figure just has to be higher," said Community Action on Pokie Problems chairman Mike Hill. "It's too hard to find accurate figures because the courts don't make the connection with gambling and crime." In the latest case, a huge theft was uncovered at the Heart Research Centre, based at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The money is believed to have been stolen over years by a trusted figure formerly connected to the centre. A poker machine link came to light after police began investigating several months ago. A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a 35-year-old woman had been interviewed on November 25 by Carlton detectives. She is expected to be charged on summons with obtaining property by deception. Auditors from accountancy firm KPMG are aiding the investigation. The Heart Research Centre studies heart disease and helps improve the quality of life of patients and their families. It receives no government funding and relies on public donations and bequests. The centre's cardiology consultant, Dr Alan Goble, said the thefts, over years, were regrettable but would not affect the HRC's work. Dr Goble said the centre had tightened procedures and donors should not worry their pledges would vanish. Victorians last year gambled away over $4 billion -- more than half lost on the pokies. The State Government raked in more than $829 million from poker machines last financial year. Gambling taxes provide about 13 per cent of its total revenue. But Melbourne barrister Brian Rolfe said the financial bonanza had come at a huge social cost. He said problem gamblers created a new class of criminal, most of whom had never previously been in trouble with the law. Mr Rolfe, who represented a Keilor Downs gambling addict convicted over a $4.5 million fraud, said the legal profession was amazed at the new type of criminals being created in gaming venues. "They come from good backgrounds, very often from managerial backgrounds," he said. "They are as addicted to what they are doing as a heroin addict who injects and I think these gaming centres have a high degree of responsibility for it." The Interchurch Gambling Taskforce said the Government was putting revenue ahead of gambling's cost to society. Chairman John Dalziel said with billions of gambling dollars being poured into the state's coffers, the Government was reluctant to take any serious action to control poker machine addiction. A spokeswoman for Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos said the Government was committed to looking after people who lost control of their gambling. "The Bracks Government has introduced the toughest responsible gambling measures in Australia and provided record funding for counselling and support services for the small number of problem gamblers," she said. But the former head of the state-funded Gambling Research Panel, Professor Linda Hancock, said a chronic lack of resources had stopped crucial research being completed. Prof Hancock said a study into the link between crime and gambling was just one of many crucial projects never started because of a lack of staff at the now-defunct panel. Mr Pandazopoulos's spokeswoman said the panel was always offered adequate funding for research projects, which would now be completed under a more effective body. Herald Sun