By Jessica Micallef
Nearly $50 million has been been saved from electronic gaming machines in Hume since the COVID-19 pandemic began, new data reveals.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform announced that Victorians had saved $1 billion from being fed into gaming machines since coronavirus lockdown restrictions were introduced in March, with $46 million staying in the pockets of Hume residents.
Alliance chief advocate Tim Costello said the “extraordinary” savings in four months demonstrated the blight poker machines had to the local economy and community.
“It has been awful reading about the lives lost to COVID-19 around Australia and especially the devastating spikes in Victoria and my heart goes out to the people affected,” he said.
“We also feel tremendously deeply for the people who have lost their jobs through this dire crisis.
“But we have experienced a silver lining in all this. The shutdown of poker machines has undoubtedly improved lives for many people in Hume for the better, and perhaps even saved lives.”
However, the latest poker machine loss data for the 2019-20 financial year showed that $85.9 million was lost to gaming machines in Hume, accounting for four per cent of the state’s losses.
The data also showed that Macedon Ranges’ patrons lost more than $6.8 million to gaming machines in 2019-20 financial year, despite saving $3.6 million since March.
Reverend Costello said it stood to reason that at least some of the millions saved in Hume and the Macedon Ranges from poker machine losses would have been spent locally to help boost the economy at a time when it was needed the most.
“Poker machines are an effective drain on our economy,” he said.
“They prevent people from having the money to not only pay their bills but to also do the little things in their community like buy a coffee and cake or a book from a local shop.
“Poker machines are not innocuous, they do the majority of the gambling harm in our community as they are seemingly inescapable and the machines themselves are designed to addict people.”
