By Alesha Capone
Wyndham gamblers lost more than $105.5 million on poker machines during the 2017-18 financial year, the eighth-highest amount in the state.
Figures released by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) last week also revealed that Brimbank – which includes Sunshine, St Albans and Deer Park – topped pokies losses in Victoria for the same period at more than $139.5 million.
In comparison, gamblers lost $97.8 million in Wyndham and $134.1 million in Brimbank for the 2016-17 financial year.
There are 893 poker machines in Wyndham, at 13 venues, and a total of 948 machines in Brimbank spread across 15 venues.
Statewide, poker machines losses were more than $2.7 billion in the 2017-18 financial year.
Last month, Wyndham council joined other Victorian councils and the Alliance for Gambling Reform to call for a maximum of $1 bets to be allowed on poker machines.
The alliance launched its Councils Unite For Pokies Reform campaign on the steps of state Parliament last week, calling on political parties to reform electronic gambling machine laws.
The campaign wants poker machine venues to operate for a maximum of 14 hours a day, instead of 20.
Alliance director Tim Costello said harm caused by gambling was a “blight on Australian society”.
“We need urgent reform to prevent the needless suicides, family violence, bankruptcy and fraud which flows when $2.7 billion a year is ripped from the community through addictive poker machines,” Mr Costello said.
Eighteen Victorian councils have signed up to support the alliance and its campaign this year, including Wyndham, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Hume, Maribyrnong and Whittlesea.
In May, the chairman of Wyndham’s Gambling Reference Advisory Group, Cr Josh Gilligan expressed disappointment at the high losses in Wyndham.
“Figures also show that gambling losses by Wyndham adults are increasing almost eight times faster than the Victorian average,” Cr Gilligan said.
