Punters poured an average of $11,000 every hour into Wyndham’s 891 poker machines in the last six months of 2014.
Figures from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation reveal that $47.7 million was pumped into poker machines at 13 pubs and clubs across the city between July and December last year.
In the 2013-14 financial year, more than $90 million went into Wyndham’s poker machines, equivalent to $626 for each adult resident.
The highest spending tallies were recorded by the Werribee Plaza Tavern ($7.4 million), followed by Werribee’s Commercial Taverner ($6.7 million) and Laverton North’s Westside Taverner ($4.6 million).
In June last year, Wyndham council relaxed its zero tolerance approach to gaming machines in an attempt to gain more control over their location.
The council’s new electronic gaming policy specifies shopping strips and centres where gaming machines are banned and includes assessment criteria to ensure council decisions on gaming applications are more likely to be upheld.
Victorian Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce chairman Mark Zirnsak told Star Weekly he was “deeply concerned” by Wyndham’s figures.
“The losses are high because Wyndham has a higher concentration of machines than the average in Melbourne and key reforms to reduce problem gambling have not been introduced,” Dr Zirnsak said.
“Venue operators seek to place machines where they can make the most money.
“Unfortunately, this has seen machines concentrated in areas with higher concentrations of vulnerable people.”
Dr Zirnsak said the taskforce believed Victoria should follow New Zealand’s example and allow councils to set limits on the number of gaming machines in their communities.
“They [councils] can also reject increases in machines and, if a venue closes or reduces its machines, they can refuse to allow the machines or the venue to be replaced,” he said.
Dr Zirnsak said the state government should also require gaming venues to identify and help people who show signs of problem gambling; it should also restrict losses to $1 per push and require all gaming venues to close between midnight and 10am.
