24th July, 2015
The Australian Christian Lobby as called on the Queensland Government to rule out any further increases to the number of poker machines at the new Queen’s Wharf Casino and called for a $1 bet maximum to be placed on all the machines.
The government announced this week that it would allow an extra 1,200 poker machines in Brisbane’s city centre, a figure Wendy Francis, the ACL’s Queensland director, described as a "huge increase".
Ms Francis said the decision calls into question the government’s commitment to tackle problem gambling.
"An increase of 2,500 poker machines from the current 1,300 allows more capacity for broken families, more capacity for alcohol abuse and more capacity for mental health issues in at-risk individuals," she said.
– DAVID ADAMS
