This past week the Australian Anglican Bishops met in Melbourne for the annual National Bishops’ Meeting.
One important item on our agenda was Gambling Reform. The Primate, Dr Phillip Aspinall, sent out a media release on behalf on the Anglican Bishops yesterday. Below is an excerpt from the media release:
Anglican Primate Dr Phillip Aspinall said “The evidence from the Productivity Commission Report on
Gambling (June 2010) is clear that poker machine problem gamblers account for about 40% of total
poker machine spending.
“The bishops recognised that problems of addiction in Australia are much wider than the abuse of
poker machines, but we were also confronted by the fact that around 95,000 people are addicted to
the machines and each lose, on average, around $21,000 per year. For this reason there was strong
support for current proposals for a $1.00 limit on poker machine bids…”
Read the entire media release: Media Release on Gambling Reform
You may also read my media release sent on 17th of January 2012: Poker Machine Reform
See also, A deal’s a deal. Not. , Churches solid on pokie reform and Christian foundations 4 Gambling Forum
