Thread: Airbags on Pokies!
This week @SydAnglicans Synod passed my motion asking NSW Parliament to implement effective harm minimisation methods to reduce the misery caused by problem gambling, especially via poker machines. N.B. @paulscullymp, @RyanPark_Keira, @garethjward /1

My motion was based upon the foundational truth that Almighty God calls on governing rulers to “defend the weak and fatherless; to uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed” (Psalm 82:3). /2

As a Christian, all gambling is ethically problematic. It’s often based on greed for gain. Characteristically, it fails Christ’s love test, since any win you achieve always come at the cost of losses to others, including problem gamblers who cannot afford it. /3

But I’m not seeking a blanket ban for secular society. I want airbags on pokies to minimize harm.
Last weekend, some relatives were in a bad car accident. They were saved from serious injury or death, by the airbags deploying. Damage was limited to stitches & bruising. /4

Australia’s total gambling losses are about $25 billion p.a. We have the world’s highest per capita gambling losses – more than twice that of Japan, New Zealand or the USA. If guns are the USA’s blind-spot and blight, then the pokies are ours! /5

…Because problem gambling bankrupts families, destroys friendships, ruins businesses, torpedoes careers, corrupts sport... Many pastors have seen the damage first-hand: inability to repay debt, bailiffs at the door to repossess, a struggle to feed kids, despair and suicide. /6

Pokies are configured with intense behavioural conditioning features & the research suggests they produce significant harm for 30% of regular users. Indeed 40% of pokie profits come from problem gamblers. This is inconsistent with their supposed purpose as harmless amusement./7

Only small reforms have been made in NSW; mostly those approved by the gambling lobby, like self-exclusion, which relies on the addict alone to change. Courageous parliamentarians must adopt harm minimization measures recommended by experts independent of vested interests./8

Car accident hospitalization occurs at a rate 5 times lower than problem gambling. But we approve all sorts of limits on our roads. Seat belts, air bags, and speed cameras. Now we need to put air bags on pokies! /9

Start with $1 bet limits, proposed by the Productivity Commission – hardly woswers! It’s an incredibly easy reform to implement (unlike mandatory pre-commitment). Poker machine regulation is also the area that state governments can address most directly./9

Why not ask your local state MPs what effective harm minimisation methods, recommended by independent experts, they will support to reduce the misery caused by problem gambling? Urge them to support $1 bet limits on pokies! @AinslieClaire @kelfuller /10

Jesus encouraged us to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to our banquets; and urges us to care for the poor at our gate. This is the will of God for those in leadership, whether in parliament or church! /END