FRANKSTON: $65.7m lost annually on local pokies
Frankston City’s nine gaming venues saw a total of $65.7 million lost on pokies in a year, local MLA Paul Edbrooke has told Parliament.
“That is $65.7 million from the pockets of people just in Frankston going into pokies. When I stand up here and I have to talk about gambling legislation, am I willing to admit that people should be able to do whatever they want?
“Yes, I am, but that comes at a price to the rest of our community, and it comes with a consideration that we do need to put rules around these things, because it is the rest of the community that pays for these issues.
“$65.7 million is a lot of money per annum to be leaving the pockets of people in Frankston – and going where exactly?
“When I hear people in this house looking at this bill and saying that this goes nowhere towards gambling reforms and harm reduction, that is a bit of a misconception, because this bill does make reforms to further reduce gambling harm and money laundering, including introducing account-based play across EGMs in Victoria.”