Ryan Oliver's blog : A community is trying to drive the pokies out of an Australian town

Iris Capital, a Sydney-based hospitality giant, had just spent $50 million to acquire the largest pub and hotel in town. The company, which already owned a casino and more than 300 poker machines, wasted no time in applying for more than 60 poker machines for its four new properties.For those looking to dive deeper into this audacious expansion and what it might mean for the local hospitality scene, simply click the following web site. This move not only cements Iris Capital's dominance in the sector but also raises the stakes for the entertainment offerings in the area.

Like many communities across the country, the fight against pokies was left to volunteers.

Poker machines in a pub in Sydney, New South Wales (pokies)

Amid cost-of-living crisis, "desperate" Australians are losing billions more on pokies, researchers warn.

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From rural Victoria to the hinterland of Byron Bay, these groups oppose multi-million dollar investments in their spare time. Some of them have affected dozens of public operators and are now ripping machinery from the wall.

It was a group of social workers, activists, young families and professionals who led the fight in Alice Springs last July and sang The Whitlams' song the following month.

Their community already had three times as many poker machines per adult as the national average. Officially, the town of 25,000 residents lost nearly $14 million on the pokies last year.

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It all started with WhatsApp," said Emma Buckley-Lennox, a lawyer who volunteers with casinosclub.at; Mparntwe is the Arrente name for Alice Springs.

'We felt that adding a poker machine would ultimately be very detrimental because of its proximity to a vulnerable community. As locals, we all knew that the town had social problems".

Within days of its formation, more than 700 people supported its submission to the Minister of Gaming. They set up stalls in markets, walked the streets, held lectures and screenings of the anti-poker documentary "KaChing." and worked with choirs and local media to raise awareness.

Anti-poker machine activist Emma Buckley Lennox stands outside Todd Tavern.

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Anti-poker machine activist Emma Buckley Lennox stands outside Todd Tavern. Photo Jesse Tyssen/The Guardian

A month after the choir's protest, the Northern Territory government announced a nine-month moratorium on all new poker machine applications.

Buckley-Lennox says the decision was due to the group's campaign. It was a big win for us," she says.

The group continued its campaign, surveying 800 local residents and 200 tourists and finding that nearly all were opposed to pokies in the town. A few days after the survey results were released, the government announced that it would cut the number of poker machines from 1,699 to 1,659.

A Melbourne gambling hall with poker machines.

The poker hall, owned by an AFL club, claims the refurbishment and pay TV deal as a "community benefit".

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Iris has since withdrawn its application for 40 poker machines at two venues, Mercure and Uncles, which had no existing machines. We reached out to Iris Capital for comment but did not receive a response.

Asta Hill, another attorney involved in the campaign, said the fight was "exhilarating" and "empowering.

From the perspective of a grassroots movement," Hill says, "we were up against the perfect enemy. Iris, however, allowed Todd Tavern and the Gap View Hotel to install 20 more machines. Community campaigners, with the help of the law firm Maurice Blackburn, are fighting this in court.

It was a done deal.

Around the time the NT government announced a moratorium on new poker machines, residents of the small inland town of Bungalow, near Byron Bay, were worried that their struggling local bowling club would be swallowed up by the giant Sydney-based pokie company Noakes. So they called a friend.

In 2007, George Catsi removed the poker machines from the Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney's Inner West and has since sought help from community leaders and clubs who want the same thing.

'We felt so uncomfortable at the time that we literally turned the machines off at the wall. We said, 'We're not going to do this any more, we're going to get our business up and running.'"

Cuzzi agreed to talk about how the Bungalow Bowling Club could get out of its financial difficulties, without more pokies and without North. Hundreds of people packed the small room to be interviewed by former ABC host Kelly O'Brien.

'The community was divided, and there was a great deal of wranglings. Some wanted autonomy, some were very concerned about the poker-machine aspect of the merger," said Cuzzi. 'I suggested they not merge. They said the roof would have to be repaired, but I said, 'Well, we're not going to merge, we're not going to merge.

George Cazzi, manager of the Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney.

Manager George Cazzi of the Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney. Photo Carly Earle/The Guardian

One of the leaders of the community campaign was Professor Linda Hancock, a gambling expert with decades of experience at Deakin University. Hancock, who lived in nearby Brunswick Heads, was encouraged by Catsey's speech.

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"No one wanted a gambling venue. The memorandum only increased the number of machines to 12 ...... but that is temporary," says Hancock.

A campaign badge was created. Media exposure was secured. There was support from local politicians. But in the end, the campaign failed. The merger with Nokes was approved by 289 votes to 192.

Says Hancock, "Once the opposition was put together, it was as if the merger was a done deal."

Hancock describes the merger as a "well-orchestrated takeover bid.

According to Chris Masters, Boro's general manager, most members were "more concerned with securing their future than anything else." He says the number of poker machines will increase from four to 10 within a year, followed by a cap of 15.

"A 'well-designed acquisition method' is not an accurate depiction of the collaborative and transparent process that took place," Masters says.

"The merger not only protected this wonderful community hub for the benefit of local residents, but tens of thousands of dollars were invested in it during the first five months it operated as a North's Collective venue."

However, one local resident, Holly Burns, who is part of the "Keep Bowlo Local" campaign, is concerned about more pokies in the area.

She says, "Addiction is a big problem in this community. If it's not ice, it's pokies." This area is a paradise, but it is also an addict's paradise. "

David and Goliath" Battle

In the southeastern Melbourne suburb of Caulfield, another campaign is underway to block a new facility for poker machines.

The Melbourne Racing Club leases the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve and has a license for 105 poker machines.

(L-R) Gerald Shelley, Marlene Bronstein, Jane Kerslake, Tam de Silva, and Lorraine Finlay oppose the installation of poker machines next to Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne.

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(L-R) Gerald Shelley, Marlene Bronstein, Jane Kerslake, Tam de Silva, and Lorraine Finlay oppose a new poker machine next to Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne. Photo Nadir Kinani/The Guardian

Jane Kerslake, a local resident and former union organizer, led a campaign against the facility, which she describes as a David and Goliath battle, and launched an online petition to send to State Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny.

Says Kerslake, "As a community, we have enough gaming venues in our immediate facilities to say that this one will be more prominent."

Gaming venues with poker machines

Victoria's poker establishments spent $184 million in profits "for the community" last year.

'It will be in close proximity to residences and open at 4 a.m.' It will also be directly across the street from one of the state's most important transportation hubs.

A spokesperson for the Melbourne Racing Club said they have already been in extensive discussions with area residents for three years. The new development would open up the nearby park for "greater community use," they said.

Cars Lake has the support of longtime campaigner Carol Bennett of the Gambling Reform Alliance. Bennett says that removing the poker machines is "one of the best ways to help the community thrive and focus on what they really want and need.

Bennett says, "We're seeing a groundswell of communities taking back control from gambling interests and replacing it with live music, good food, and recreation."

That can only be good for all of us."

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