14 September 2005

Pokie tax scaremongering.

| S4anta
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ABC on-line is reporting that the sky is falling, according to those who run the Dickson Tradies, due to the proposed increase in tax on pokies. The union boys who run the gravy train that is the tradies have been quoted as saying that:

the increase in taxes from 2007, on top of the ACT Government’s smoking ban, could see up to one club go bankrupt every fortnight.

They also state that they had considered sponsoring the Raiders, but had to reconsider because of the tax and that would have eroded their profit margins too much. Tough luck boys, get over it.

My heart bleeds. After screwing a large part of the chronically poor, addicted and generally stupid I think it is about time those who control pokies take it up the ar*e for a change. Not only have you had more than enough time to prepare your pork barrelling antics for this tax rise that has been on the horizon for sometime, you also have around 75% of the baby bonuses that were handed out in Canberra recently.

Usually I am very sympathetic to my unionised brethren, but this time you can jam that up your arse gentlemen. Pokies are a waste of money, time and resources, and far too long it has been people like yourselves, who support and speak for these clubs (I hope you’re listening Mr Stefaniak) that are actually causing the communities who you so benevolently sponsor and support through these incipid machines.

By the way, when the pokies have gone bring live music you dull witted egg white fluffing wankers.

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consider it done, the name of the plug-in is “witty” but we like to think of it as testimonials.

nice to know someone notices.

“By the way, when the pokies have gone bring live music you dull witted egg white fluffing wankers.”
I’d just like to nominate that quote for “pool room” status (if that’s the correct term for the stuff that graces the top of this site).

Cheers Thumper. Normally I am just an avid reader on here but this one cut a bit too close for me.

I agree that pokies are a blight on society and indeed our city and if something was going to make them disappear I couldn’t wait for it to happen. Having been involved with a couple of junior sporting codes, the teams that are propped up by gambling funds certainly do better than those that don’t. As mossey said other funds sources would appear if these ones left.

Interesting that many posts are laying into people with gambling problems. Well perhaps I don’t fit into the sitting there all day drinking the free coffee and tuned out category, but I have tasted the nasty bite that is the gambling addiction. I was lucky and I have held onto my life. It is like any other addiction it plays on your mind no matter where you are or what you are doing. It may seem crazy but it can happen so easily. I know that you may think it is pathetic but I think the same when I see someone

smoking (the waiting lists for a hospital bed grow longer, Medicare and private health insurance rises every year all because you can’t stop sticking industrial grade chemicals into your body that you know are going to kill you and others around you),

binge drinking (yet again knowingly killing your organs is a bright move but so is drink driving, getting into street fights, spewing in pubic (or cabs) and the favourite of alcoholics “partner and/or children beating”)

stuffing down a greasy burger and fries (as above you know it is killing you but yet that upsize for 50c is just too hard to resist meanwhile my friend can’t have a lump removed because of all the open heart surgery being conducted on over weight idiots)

Perhaps all these people need to “return to personal responsibility”

He said words to the effect that,’The raiders would not want to be playing knowing that they are being sponsored by the poker machine revenue obtained from the misery of gamblers.’

I think ted’s point was the raiders were letting the clubs use them as a vehicle in this debate.

and if the clubs to win it would impoverish the stupid comparatively?

Yea I agree that people should take responsibility for their own lives but the pokie manufacturers and clubs have the feeding of an addiction down to a fine art. While the addiction shows personal weakness, users are victims also.

Imagine what could be achieved with all of those wasted man-hours and I’m sure a small fraction of the fortune pumped into pokies could fuel all of the sports clubs and charities that you like while allowing people to pay the rent and buy food.
*rant* *rant*

if pokies were banned tomorrow the community would rejoice.

elect king bonfire and watch it happen as edict 1.

Maybe the clubs should introduce strippers: male and female, to be fair!

Actually Mr Evil, it has been found in virtually all cases that if you remove the pokies most of the addicts stop gambling completely. The addiction seems to be for the pokies specifically not gambling.

I reckon support for sports clubs is a poor excuse for the damage that pokies do the community (social and economical). The kids sports clubs will always find funds in sports mad aus.

The Labor Club on Childers St is going to be bulldozed down one day to make way for a retail/gallery/apartment block. It went belly-up because although ANU students can consume a shitload of piss and eat a crapload of steak, they don’t play the pokies (which is how most clubs make all their money), so that’s apparently why it closed. I personally don’t care much for pokies, and even if all the poker machines in Canberra disappeared overnight, the newts who are into pokies will always find another form of gambling to waste their money on anyway.

Samuel Gordon-Stewart3:36 pm 14 Sep 05

Would Ted Quinlan not like to be paid knowing that his pay is coming from the “misery of gamblers”?

I’m told the University Bar/Club will be opening up on University Ave between the ANU and Civic sometime in the (near) future

Samuel Gordon-Stewart2:29 pm 14 Sep 05

Strange, I would have thought the ANU was a perfect place for the Labor club…

Does anyone know what’s happening with the Labor club at ANU? That place has been shut for what seems like years now.

Samuel Gordon-Stewart2:26 pm 14 Sep 05

I suppose logically I should give the tradies club the name of Henny-Penny for those comments, and ABC Online can be Turkey-Lurkey for falling for that gibberish.

Just remember it’s their pokies that are funding your local sports teams since the local government have absolved themselves of that responsibility

Samuel Gordon-Stewart2:12 pm 14 Sep 05

“the sky’s a-going to fall; I must go and tell the king.”
Why couldn’t they just tell King Stanhope and leave us alone…a club going broke every two weeks? Yeah right, I’ll be hit by falling sky and moon cheese long before that.

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