"I want people to start thinking more about Australia's relationship with the pokies, because it's such a dominating force and causes so much harm" Proudly Pokies Free founder Tom Lawrence, 25, believes many people are indifferent towards pokies, and wants to encourage awareness among the youth.
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Critics say the pokies are designed to get players hooked.
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But a new youth-focused campaign called Proudly Pokies Free wants to challenge that.
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The Proudly Pokies Free campaign celebrates venues which favour live entertainment instead of gambling.
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Pokies are regulated on a state-by-state basis, instead of by the federal government.
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Western Australia is the only state or territory that bans the operation of pokies outside casinos.
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They also argue that tighter regulation of pokies would lead to huge job losses at the venues that operate them.
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Easy access Livingstone estimates that one-third of the people who play pokies once a week will develop a gambling problem.
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Mr. Costello said that with governments so dependent on gambling revenues, it may be difficult to pass tighter regulation of pokies.
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Rows of ageing punters sip beer and smoke cigarettes as they await a payout from the "pokies", as the machines are known.
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With the exception of Western Australia, pokies are allowed not just in casinos but in pubs and social clubs, where they are plentiful.
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In 2011, the University of Canberra professor lost $10,000 gambling in sport, social and community clubs in the Australian capital -- betting on pokies.
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Electronic gambling machines known as pokies contribute to an extraordinary degree: a gargantuan 24 billion Australian dollars, or about $18.4 billion, each year.
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Most Aussies dabble sensibly enough, but almost half of the money sunk into the pokies is spent by problem gamblers, often from poor areas.
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The most popular form of gaming in Australia is on ubiquitous electronic poker machines, or "pokies", which are more prevalent there than anywhere else.
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Lawrence points to a number of Sydney pubs that don't have pokies, instead choosing to rely on other revenue streams like food and live entertainment.
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No one had work in my circles, so we blew our fortnightly job seeker payments on half a gram and a spin at the pokies.
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Pokies are "really good at getting people hooked: Each (bet) provides a dopamine release, similar to a drug like cocaine, in your brain," explains Livingstone.
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This is why I ended up heading out to something called the York Resort, which is a pokies megaplex in a fringe suburb called Lilydale.
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That is partly because of the proliferation of pokies: after decades of liberalisation, the country is peppered with some 197,000 machines—one for every 114 people.
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But the gentrification of those pubs in recent decades has threatened that legacy, as raucous band rooms have given way to pretty beer gardens or pokies.
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The first time I listened to the album, the feeling was that of being somewhere too clean and too artificially bright, like a hospital or a pokies lounge.
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In Victoria, the heartland of Australian Rules Football, 90 percent of Australian Football League teams operate their own pokies, generating more than 93 million Australian dollars in revenue last year.
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The pokies are far and away the most popular form of flutter, accounting for over half of annual losses (spending on gambling minus the payouts from it) of $18bn (see chart).
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"We're not going out there and saying 'stuff pubs that have pokies' because it is so ingrained in the industry, we're not trying to put all the pressure on them," he said.
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State budgets are increasingly made up of revenues from the machines, and legalized gambling, including from pokies, accounted for 7.7 percent of total tax revenues for Australian states and territories in 2016.
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In an ideal world, Lawrence would like to see the pokies only available in casinos — as they are in the state of Western Australia — as well as reducing the deceptive features of these machines.
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MELBOURNE, Australia — In pockets of suburbia all across Australia, electronic gambling machines known as pokies await their many customers in pubs, hotels and sports clubs, as common a fixture as A.T.M.s in a shopping mall.
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Many rural, suburban and blue-collar pubs have been inundated with gambling machines — known here as pokies — turning what were vibrant social hubs into blinking, buzzing low-rent casinos that smell of cheap beer and desperation.
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Pokies aren't the only major form of gambling in Australia — casinos account for around 20 percent of gambling losses here — but they remain by far the most profitable for operators and most damaging for gamblers, gaming opponents say.
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While gambling on sports tends to be male-dominated and seen as a traditionally masculine activity, playing the pokies has more equal distribution across the sexes, said Christopher Hunt, a clinical psychologist at the University of Sydney Gambling Treatment Clinic.
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"ALH has long been Australia's biggest, most aggressive and most irresponsible pokies operator, pushing hard on loyalty schemes, offering up free liquor to gamblers and operating for the maximum amount of hours as the laws allow," Alliance for Gambling Reform head Tim Costello said.
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The most prevalent forms of gambling are lottery-type games (such as Powerball or Oz Lotto), with 30% reported use, but poker machines come second, with 8% of adults reporting they use pokies in a typical month, according to the 2017 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey.
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In the run-up to the South Australian election, the Australian Hotels Association — which counts Australian Leisure and Hospitality as a member — donated to several opponents of Nick Xenophon, an independent whose new party, S.A.-BEST, vowed to cut in half the number of pokies per venue, and institute smaller betting limits.
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Wilkie campaigned heavily against poker machines (colloquially "pokies") at the 2010 federal election and immediately began forging ties with independent anti-pokies Senator Nick Xenophon. Wilkie claimed that problem gamblers in Australia lose $5 billion each year on pokies. The Labor government gave two commitments regarding pokies in exchange for Wilkie's support. The first was mandatory "pre-commitment" technology, which required a better to commit how much they were willing to bet before starting.
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The Greens have been calling for the pokies ban for many years, and the Jacquie Lambie Network also coming out in support. Others in support include David Walsh, the owner of the MONA gallery, and major opponent of the pokies. Public opinion also strongly supports either a reduction or phasing out of pokies.
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Labor leader Rebecca White allowed a conscience vote, as the motion was put forward as a private member's bill. Ogilvie is a passionate advocate against pokies and revenge porn. Her stance on pokies was later adopted by the Party. She has also advocated for statewide discussion on Aboriginal treaty rights.
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Wilkie and Xenophon argued that "$12 billion a year is lost on the pokies. 100,000 Australians are problem gamblers and an additional 200,000 are significantly at risk of developing a full-blown addiction", and that the legislation is necessary to "[help] those who sometimes lose up to $1200 an hour on the pokies." The Labor government withdrew their promised support for Wilkies's plan when their strength in parliament improved through a change of Speaker. The plan came under sustained attack from clubs, hotels and other businesses which financially benefit from pokies.
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"Blow Up the Pokies" is the second single by The Whitlams from their fourth studio album, Love This City. It was released in 2000 and peaked at number 21 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Blow Up The Pokies" was ranked number 84.
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In the South Australian Legislative Council, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party held eight seats each, whilst No Pokies and Family First held two seats each. The SA Greens and an ex-Democrat independent held one seat each. Half of the upper house was up for election in 2010, four Labor and five Liberal, one Family First and one ex-Democrat independent. No Pokies MP Nick Xenophon, re-elected in 2006 until 2014, was replaced by former No Pokies candidate John Darley after Xenophon's resignation to run for the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election in which he was successful.
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Ban is an anti-pokies campaigner and continues to advocate for the reduction in the number of gaming machines within the Logan City local government area. Ban voted in several ballots to remove Deputy Mayor of Logan, Russell Lutton, who is a pro-pokies councillor. Lutton has since fought back criticising Ban.Robertson, Josh (5 May 2009) Tall tales at Logan circus.
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Comprising two companies, Maxgaming and ByteCraft. Tatts Group both operates and provides services for electronic gaming machines (known in Australian slang as "pokies", shortened from "poker machines").
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Darley was appointed to the South Australian Legislative Council by a joint sitting of the Parliament of South Australia on 21 November 2007 to replace outgoing Independent No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon who resigned to contest the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election.MPs stunned by Xenophon blast, abc.net.au, 21 November 2007. Darley was the third of three candidates on the independent No Pokies upper house ticket at the 2006 state election.
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Slot machines, commonly called "pokies", were introduced into New Zealand in 1991. A 2009 study linked the prevalence of slot machines with high crime levels.M.Bellringer et al. (2009), Auckland: AUT.
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The casino licence was originally supposed to be granted to a rival to Federal Hotels, who own the license to the Hobart casino, as well as a monopoly over all poker machines in the state. However, through successful lobbying the license for the second casino was also given to Federal Hotels. The casino was soon dominated by over 500 poker machines on the floor. At the 2018 election, Rebecca White, the Labor opposition leader is promising to remove all pokies from pubs and clubs leaving the two casinos as the only location for pokies.
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Tatts Pokies operated over 13,000 gaming machines in Victoria starting from 1994. However the company's licence expired on 16 August 2012 and was not renewed.Page 15 of the Tatts Group Limited 2013 Annual Report The expiration of the licence led Tatts to sue The State of Victoria for compensation under a contract government signed with them in the mid 1990s. In the contract the Victorian state government signed, Tatts Group would be entitled to compensation for the infrastructure they had to pay for to set up their Tatts Pokies operation.
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The hotel is located on Mickleham Road. It has extensive pokies and betting facilities, as well as a bistro and bar. It also contains hotel rooms and a drive through bottle shop. It is part of the shopping centre precinct.
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New South Wales has a long history of gambling; Australia's first official horse racing meeting occurred in 1810 at Hyde Park in Sydney; the first official Australian lottery occurred in 1881 at the Sydney Cup; and registered clubs operated the first legal poker machines in Australia from 1956. Approximately 95,800 of "pokies" are in NSW, a state total beaten only by Nevada, which operated 181,109 gambling machines in 2014. Between 1 December 2017 to 31 May 2018 NSW Clubs made a net profit of $1,945,161,625 and hotels made a net profit of $1,169,040,731 from pokies alone.
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At the end of the 2016 season, AFL Victoria terminated the licence of the Frankston Football Club due to its financial position, which was no longer considered viable. The club had suffered a severe downturn in the profitability of its pokies licence over the previous few years, and by 2016 the machines were generating a loss for the club. The club terminated the pokies licence in May 2016, but by that time owed more than $1,500,000, both to the state gaming regulators and other creditors. The club went into voluntary administration in August, and the club's VFL licence was terminated the following month, in the week after the VFL Grand Final.
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There are various facilities in officer for recreation. There are two lighted AFL sporting grounds which also support Cricket. There are presently 5 recreational parks for walking and children's playgrounds. Popular also is the Venue "Club Officer" which hosts Family Dining, Sport Bar and pokies facilities.
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He received 190,958 first preferences or 20.51 per cent of the total vote, enough to not only be re-elected himself, but also to elect the second No Pokies candidate, Ann Bressington. McCarthy is a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Adelaide. His total was 5.46 per cent less than the Liberal Party, and he outpolled the Liberals in some booths, including the electoral district of Enfield. With the Labor government needing four non-Labor upper house members to pass legislation, No Pokies on two seats shared the balance of power with Family First on two seats, the Democrats on one seat, with the SA Greens winning their first seat.
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Fairfield had the highest poker machine revenue in the state for 2013, generating $298 million in clubs and $93 million in pubs, from the start of the year to August.Needham, Kristy. "Punters in west pile money in pokies", "The Sydney Morning Herald", Australia, 23 March 2014. Retrieved on 10 September 2014.
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It operates a large gambling and social facility, plus various sporting facilities (including a golf course). The club was immensely popular with South Australians and Victorians looking for a pokies venue when they were unavailable in those states. Schools include Dareton Public School, Coomealla High School and the Coomealla Campus of the Riverina Institute.
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In the upper house, the Labor Party held eight seats, the Liberal Party held seven seats, the SA Greens, the Family First Party, and No Pokies all held two seats each, and Dignity for Disability held one seat. A Port Adelaide by-election and a Ramsay by-election occurred on 11 February 2012, Labor retained both seats.
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Ann Marie Bressington (born 12 September 1955) is an Australian politician. She was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council at the 2006 South Australian election as Nick Xenophon's running mate on his Independent No Pokies ticket. Her election was a surprise as it was not expected that two people on the ticket would be elected.
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In Australia "poker machines" or "pokies" are officially termed gaming machines. Australian-style gaming machines frequently use video displays to simulate physical reels, usually five. These machines have additional bonusing and second-screen features such as free games and bonus levels. They also allow for multiple lines (up to 200) or multiple ways (up to 3,125) to be played.
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It was recorded with the line-up of Freedman with Ben Fink on guitar, Bill Heckenberg on drums and Cottco Lovett on bass guitar, together with a large cast of guest musicians including Marcia Hines, Jackie Orszaczky, Chris Abrahams, Garry Gary Beers and members of Machine Gun Fellatio. The album had four producers: Freedman, Taylor, Daniel Denholm and Joe Hardy and was recorded in Sydney and Memphis (a reflection of the considerably larger budget that Freedman had to work with). The three singles from the album "Thank You (For Loving Me at My Worst)" (January 2000), "Blow Up the Pokies" (May) and "Made Me Hard" (September 2001) all charted in the top 100 singles charts in Australia. "Blow Up the Pokies" was their highest charting single – it peaked at No. 21.
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Introduced in 1987, slot machines, commonly known as "pokies", are operated by charitable foundations and are mostly placed in hotels and bars. Maximum jackpots are regulated. In the year ending 30 June 2008, turnover was $10.096 billion, of which $9.158 billion was returned as prizes (player losses were $938 million). These figures represent a 9% decrease from the peak year of 2004.
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Elliott Heads is a popular recreation area, offering both surf and stillwater areas for swimming, fishing, sailboarding, jet skiing, stand-up paddleboarding and other water activities. The Elliott Heads Bowls Club offers bowling greens, pokies, meals and drinks. There is a popular caravan park next to the surf beach with amenities. The local Surf Life Saving Club is located near the surf beach.
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The crossbench was made up of two Family First, two No Pokies, one Democrat, and one Green. Considering themselves the opposition to this legislation, Parnell spoke for over eight hours, with Bressington speaking for another five hours. Allowing for lunch and dinner breaks, Parnell started at 11 am and finished at 11 pm. Bressington went from 11 pm to 4 am straight.
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At the 1997 state election, Xenophon stood for the South Australian Legislative Council under an Independent No Pokies ticket, advocating the reduction and abolition of poker machines (colloquially known as "pokies"). He received a vote of 2.86 percent, a statewide total of 25,630 votes – much less than the 8.33 per cent needed to be elected in his own right – but by receiving a large number of preferences first from microparties and then from Grey Power, he went from a quota of 0.34 to 1.08 and was therefore elected. This made Xenophon the first independent elected to the Legislative Council in 60 years. Following the 1997 election, the Olsen Liberal government needed the support of an additional two non- Liberal upper house members in order to pass legislation, with the Australian Democrats retaining the balance of power on three seats.
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Their highest charting singles are "Blow Up the Pokies" (May 2000) and "Fall for You" (June 2002) – both reached number 21\. The group's single, "No Aphrodisiac" was listed at number one on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1997 by listeners of national radio station, Triple J. In January 1996 Stevie Plunder was found dead at the base of Wentworth Falls. Andy Lewis committed suicide in February 2000.
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"The Curse Stops Here" was included as a B-side track on the "Blow Up the Pokies" single. A month after Lewis' death, a benefit concert was held at the Metro Club in Sydney to raise money for his partner and child. The event was hosted by Paul McDermott, Mikey Robins and Steve Abbott (The Sandman), and performers included Max Sharam and The Gadflys. Lewis played bass on Frank Bennett's 1996 recording Five O'Clock Shadow.
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The pavilion itself set a new benchmark in football standards, with the introduction of corporate hospitality where clients could enjoy the football in comfort. These improvements were responsible for the great success North achieved during the 70s. After 1985, the Pavilion was converted into the 'Kanga Kasino' that housed the clubs pokie machines. In 2002, North Melbourne acquired the Captain's Bar at the newly constructed Docklands Stadium, and the pokies were moved there.
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In Federal Hotels' case, the motive is suggested to have been the protection of its casino monopoly in Tasmania. The outcome of the election that was triggered in 1972 ultimately led to the creation of the second casino in Launceston, and the introduction of poker machines into the casinos, and then the spreading of pokies into pubs and clubs. It also had a hand in handing the monopoly of these machines to the Federal Group.
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Pokies accounted for 46.1% of gambling expenditure (losses) in 2008. The year to 30 June 2009 saw a further 5% fall in expenditure, to $889 million. There were 19,479 machines in 1,501 venues operated by 384 licensees, all of these figures being a decrease from 2008. Since 1 July 2009, all machines must have Player Information Displays, which inform the gambler how long they have been playing, how much they have lost, and which encourage them to take breaks.
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The composition of the upper house therefore became eight Labor, seven Liberal, two Green, two Family First, two independent No Pokies, and one Dignity for Disability. Like federal elections, South Australia has compulsory voting, uses full-preference instant-runoff voting in single member seats for the lower house and single transferable vote group voting tickets in the proportionally represented upper house. The election was conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA), an independent body answerable to Parliament.
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In July 2011, Xenophon lost the balance of power to the Greens, however his anti-pokies stance was bolstered when independent Andrew Wilkie was elected to the lower house at the 2010 election, resulting in a hung parliament. Wilkie had campaigned heavily against pokies at the election. In exchange for Wilkie's support, the Gillard Government legislated for mandatory precommitment technology which would require people using high-bet machines to pre-commit how much they were willing to bet on a machine before actually playing, as well as introducing safer $1 maximum bet per spin machines, which would not require pre- commitment. The plan came under sustained attack from sporting clubs and various businesses that financially benefit from poker machine use. In September 2011, Xenophon controversially used parliamentary privilege to accuse a Catholic priest of rape, in regard to accusations around events that occurred in the 1960s. He also accused Monsignor David Cappo and Philip Wilson, the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, of failing to properly investigate the allegations in 2007.
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Although still technically illegal, Anzac Day two-up games are now openly played in streets and laneways outside pubs and it has become a national institution that is now generally ignored by police. Slot machines, known locally as "pokies", remain an important source of custom and revenue, although restrictive state-level licensing means that only a minority of pubs can operate them. In 2002, over half of the $4 billion in gambling revenue collected by state governments came from pubs and clubs.
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Tim soon after wrote "The Curse Stops Here", a piece describing being the "last one" from the original line-up of the band, and voicing his determination to survive. "The Curse Stops Here" was included as a B-side track on the "Blow Up the Pokies" single and also appeared on the album Little Cloud. The song was re-recorded for its single release, with new vocals and different instrumentation. This version appeared on their best-of compilation in 2008.
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Since 2002 East has been independent chairman of the Charity Gaming Association (Inc) (CGA), which is the industry organisation for charitable trusts that operate electronic gaming machines ("pokies") to raise funds for community purposes. In 2008 the CGA's members operated 75% of non-club gaming machines in New Zealand and generated $250 million worth of grants for worthwhile community purposes. In the 2005 Queen’s Birthday Honours, East was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Parliament and the law.
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Jack Simpson is a wisecracking, directionless layabout who works at an inner city telemarketing firm. For years he has been a member at the Cityside Lawn Bowls Club (in fact he has three memberships). But he has never played a single game, having only joined to get the free parking spaces from which he makes extra cash by renting them to his workmates. But Cityside is in dire financial trouble and a greedy developer, Bernie Fowler, wants to turn it into a soulless pokies venue.
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Coburg is seen as a leader in the football world for its work in the local Moreland community, and The Lions are the only stand alone side in the VFL to make no income from gaming and pokies revenue. They have close ties with indigenous community through their NAIDOC week game, and also hold the annual Vicky Cleary game, which is a domestic violence awareness raiser dedicated to the late sister of club legend Phil Cleary, who was tragically killed by an ex-partner in 1987.
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With 11 of the 22-member Legislative Council (upper house) standing for election, both major parties finished with a total of eight of the 22 seats, with Labor winning four of the 11 and the Liberals winning three. No Pokies independent Nick Xenophon polled 20.5 percent, an unprecedented result for an independent or minor party, which resulted in both Xenophon and his running mate, Ann Bressington, being elected. Xenophon's third running mate, John Darley, was later appointed to the vacancy created by Xenophon's resignation. Family First had a second member elected.
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The Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group, 75% owned by Woolworths, operates over 12,650 poker machines across Australia, making it the largest operator of pokies in Australia. The poker machines are estimated to raise $1.2 billion in net revenue each year. Michael Luscombe in 2010 told shareholders he has no intention of leaving the poker machines business, and the company has lobbied against mandatory precommitment technology. When mandatory pre-commitment was implemented, the Woolworths owned hotels created a loyalty card scheme to offer incentives to frequent gamblers, giving them free food and drink.
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He battled a gambling addiction and committed suicide in February 2000, aged 33, after losing an entire week's pay in a poker machine. "Blow Up the Pokies", co-written by Tim Freedman (The Whitlams) not long before Lewis' death, is a comment on the destruction that Freedman saw in Lewis' life because of his gambling. It was awaiting release as a single at the time. Freedman soon after wrote "The Curse Stops Here", a song describing being the "last one" from the original line-up of The Whitlams, and voicing his determination to survive.
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Nick Xenophon ran for election as an independent candidate in Australia under a "No Pokies" ticket that ran in South Australian state elections from 1997 to 2006. He was elected in 1997 and 2006. The 2013 Australian federal election saw independent "Nick Xenophon Group", with Xenophon as the lead candidate, win 24.9 percent of the statewide upper house vote in South Australia. This was an unprecedented result for a non-major party with Nick Xenophon Group out polling the Australian Labor Party to come in second behind the Liberal Party of Australia, which won office.
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Without Xenophon as a candidate, being in the national senate, John Darley won 12.9 percent of the statewide upper house vote. John Darley, who was appointed in 2007 to succeed Xenophon for "No Pokies", was re-elected. On 5 March 2017, Xenophon announced that he would launch a new party in South Australia in time for the March 2018 state election to enable them to focus on domestic South Australian issues as opposed to wider Australia. The party was registered on 4 July as Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST.
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The event was hosted by Paul McDermott, Mikey Robins and Steve Abbott (The Sandman), and performers included Max Sharam, and The Gadflys. During the Whitlam's Canadian tour in April, supporting Blue Rodeo, they received word that Lewis was dead. "Blow Up the Pokies" had been co-written by Freedman and Greta Gertler before Lewis' death – as a statement about the destruction in Lewis' life due to gambling. Freedman wrote "The Curse Stops Here" to describe being the 'last one' of the original line-up and voicing his determination to survive.
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Since its inaugural season in 1922, the Brisbane Rugby League was the premier competition in the state of Queensland. Like its counterpart, the Sydney Rugby Football League, the Brisbane Rugby League was thriving, boasting big crowds and large, loyal supporter bases with their respective clubs. The clubs were constant, with new teams rarely entering the competition. However, in 1956, when poker machines ("pokies") were introduced in New South Wales but not in Queensland, Sydney's clubs were able to recruit the best players from Brisbane, Rugby Union and overseas.
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Nicholas Xenophon (né Xenophou; 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon's SA- BEST in South Australia. In October 2017, Xenophon resigned from the Australian Senate to contest a seat in the House of Assembly at the 2018 South Australian state election. From 1997 to 2007, he was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council, serving as an independent on a No Pokies policy platform.
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Despite this Scalzi remained a "fairly low-key figure" only obtaining a position as a parliamentary secretary in April 2004 when he became secretary for training. He was also one of a small number of Liberals to support a bill the cut the number of pokies in South Australia by 20 percent. Scalzi lost his seat in the 2006 election landslide to the ALP, giving his Labor opponent Grace Portolesi a 4.6 percent margin. He failed to regain the seat at the 2010 election and lost Liberal preselection in Hartley for the 2014 election.
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In 2015, Macarthur was awarded a Bronze Award for Cinematography for Go Goa gone at the Australian Cinematography Awards (Qld). In 2012, Macarthur won Gold for Best Cinematography in a Feature Film at the Australian Cinematography Society's Awards (QLD). In 2000 Macarthur shot the award winning short film Stop, which was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival, the only Australian short to be accepted that year. Macarthur's music clips also received many awards for Best Cinematography including the National ACS Golden Tripod Award for the Best Cinematography for a Music Video for The Whitlams' "Blow Up the Pokies" in 1999.
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In the 2010s, the club began to face financial difficulties, which was exacerbated in particular by a turndown in profitability of its pokies licence. It sold off the licence, which by this time was returning a loss, in May 2016, but with debts in excess of $1 million, the club went into voluntary administration late in August 2016. The club's VFL licence was terminated the following month. The club's immediate future was saved when creditors, including the state government gaming administration, agreed to waive more than 90% of the club's debt, and the club came out of administration in late November.
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In 1982 and 1983, Xenophon worked as a lawyer in the private practice of Jacob van Dissel. In 1984, van Dissel gave Xenophon the personal injury part of his practice, enabling Xenophon to become principal of his new firm, Xenophon & Co. Lawyers. The firm continues and deals primarily with workers compensation and personal injury claims on a no- win-no-fee basis. In 1992, after the Bannon Labor government passed legislation that saw the introduction of poker machines (pokies) into South Australia in 1994 the increased incidence of problem gambling came to Xenophon's attention in his legal practice.
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"The Curse Stops Here" was included as a B-side track on the single version of "Blow Up the Pokies". During the broadcast of the 2000 Sydney Olympics in September, the Whitlams' track, "Sydney 2000 Olympic Theme", was played – it is a B-side from their 1995 single, "I Make Hamburgers". The track was reworked as "You Gotta Love This City" on Love This City. Its choice for the Sydney Olympics is an irony, as the song's protagonist commits suicide by jumping in the Harbour at the end of the song, disgusted at the city's crass pursuit of money: It dawns on him / The horror / We got the Olympic Games.
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Retrieved 10 July 2007. indicating the Rann Labor government slipping to a two-party preferred figure of 57 percent down four percent, with a preferred premier rating of 52 percent down 14 percent for Rann and a first-time rating of 21 percent for Martin Hamilton-Smith. Poll results also show Rann's satisfaction rating was below 60 percent for the first time since coming to office at 58 percent, with Hamilton-Smith receiving a 33 percent satisfaction rate. Previously unknown quantity Ann Bressington, elected on the back of Nick Xenophon's No Pokies popularity, has proposed mainly conservative social policies such as raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21,Allison, Lisa.
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In August 2017, Federal Group agreed to give up their monopoly on the poker machines, if in return they would receive a reduction in their taxes (which are already the lowest gambling taxes in Australia). The Liberal government also stated that they agree to the presence of the pokies but they will not necessarily grant those licences exclusively to Federal Group. In December 2017 the Labor Party opposition under its new leader, Rebecca White, announced that if elected they would phase out all poker machines from pubs and clubs by 2023. The reasons cited were the health implications, and that Tasmanians could not afford to lose the more than $110 million it loses every year.
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Pyne came close to losing Sturt at the 2007 election to Labor candidate Mia Handshin, after suffering a 5.9 percent two-party swing to finish with a 0.9 percent two-party margin (856 votes), which made Sturt the most marginal seat in South Australia. Prior to the pre-selection of Handshin, No Pokies MP Nick Xenophon had been considering running in the seat as an independent, before deciding to run for the Senate instead. At the 2010 election, Pyne increased his two-party vote to 53.4 percent, which saw neighbouring Boothby become South Australia's most marginal seat. Pyne increased his two-party margin to 10.1 percent in the 2013 election and was elevated to the Cabinet of Australia.
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On 8 May 2008 Parnell delivered a record-breaking filibuster of more than 8 hours in the Legislative Council. His speech, and that of No Pokies MLC Ann Bressington which followed, were designed to highlight the lack of opposition by either major party to a bill changing the workers compensation scheme known as WorkCover. Parnell denied his speech deserved the label of "filibuster" as he considered himself and Bressington responsible for presenting the entire opposing case. See: 2008 Parnell–Bressington filibuster In February 2011 Parnell condemned recent policy decisions by the state Labor government such as approval of the Mount Barker redevelopment and the renewal of the uranium exploration company Marathon Resources' right to drill in Arkaroola sanctuary.
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Gambling is an activity undertaken by many Australians. Over 80% of Australian adults engage in gambling of some kind, which is the highest rate of gambling in the world.Bryant, Nick "Australia in thrall of gambling mania", BBC, 30 January 2007 This number includes some 4% of the adult population who play the pokies once a week, accounting for some 62% of locals' annual gambling spend.Australian Gambling Habits Total employment in the gambling industry in Australia (thousands of people) since 1984 Gambling is a significant public health issue, with around 80,000 to 160,000 (or 0.5 - 1.0%) of Australian adults experiencing significant problems from gambling and a further 250,000 to 350,000 (or 1.4 - 2.1% of adults) experiencing moderate risks that may make them vulnerable to problem gambling.
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These menaces include parking inspectors themselves, people with annoying mobile phone ringtones, parents who give their children bad names, people with personalised "wanker" number plates, people over-proud of their tattoos, people who wear cheesy T-shirts with lame messages and people who wear their pants too low. Another Morrow segment is "Open Mic", in which he uses the public address system of a shopping centre, grocery store or pokies club to deliver a 'community service' announcement such as 'Please go home' or 'Can we please have a minute's silence?'. In November 2006, Morrow filled in as presenter on 702 ABC Sydney for the Breakfast and Evenings programs. He also presented the Breakfast Show on 702 for the 2008 Australia Day Public Holiday.
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Hood is also a fond judicial activist, in particular precedence by way of ratio decidendi to change "pathetic" sentences for "very serious crimes", ranging from rape to arson, and increase rights for the disabled, including the blind. Following the 2010 election, although Hood's identity has been outweighed by colleague Robert Brokenshire, dubbed the "de facto opposition leader", Hood has worked with independents Ann Bressington (the Nick Xenophon No Pokies Party) and John Darley, in attempts to improve funding for mental health, disability, child protection and public housing. His work with Bressington, whose 22-year-old daughter Shay-Louise Bressington died from heroin overdose, in the area of "tough on drugs" is landmark. Bressington however, is positioned as even tougher on drugs, or at least quintuply economically.
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And also a number of international artists in Australia including; Adeva (USA), Hothouse Flowers (Ireland), Margaret Cho (USA) Crash Test Dummies (Canada), NoMeansNo (Canada), Jello Biafra Spoken Word (USA) and The Pursuit of Happiness (Canada). TPA booked world tours for; DIG, Karin Schaupp, and sold-out UK tours for Killing Heidi and Grinspoon.Scott Ellis "Strike up the band", "The Sun-Herald", 6 May 2003Christie Eliezer "Pokies Slow Local Touring", "Billboard", 16 October 1999 Owen Orford has also mentored promoters of various Australian festivals including Clipsal 500 , Rock It (WA) , MS Fest , Pyramid Rock, Homebake, Bassinthegrass and the inaugural Groovin The Moo Festival at Narrandera. From 2001–2003 Owen won ‘Best Live Agent’ at the Australian Live Music Awards three years in a row. In July 1999, Owen was invited to be a part of the Commonwealth Government’s Contemporary Music Touring Program sub-committee.
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The Parnell–Bressington filibuster is a record-breaking filibuster that occurred in the South Australian upper house, the Legislative Council, on 8 May 2008, involving SA Greens MLC Mark Parnell and No Pokies MLC Ann Bressington. The South Australian workers compensation scheme known as WorkCover had been suffering an underfunded liability blowout since 2000, and by 2008 was nearing toward $1 billion. Legislation created to rectify the situation meant that injured workers payments would be cut by 10 percent after 13 weeks, 20 percent after 26 weeks, and end workers compensation payments and reverting to Centrelink benefits after two and a half years, if a person is deemed to have any capacity to work. Both the governing Labor Party and the main opposition Liberal Party were supportive of the changes, and with eight members each in the 22-member upper house, numbers were not an issue.
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Retrieved on 4 January 2007. Foley, Kevin. BUDGET: $411m new prisons – safer communities, Government of South Australia, 21 September 2006. Retrieved on 4 January 2007. The 2007–2008 budget released on 13 June 2007 saw additional spending on Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, Health, Families and Communities, and Justice portfolios such as transport initiatives including revitalisation of the rail network, commencement of the $1.7 billion Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital to replace the Royal Adelaide Hospital, funding for mental health reform including the delivery of health services, and funding for new commitments to law and order policies.State Budget 2007–2008, Government of South Australia, Department of Treasury and Finance. Retrieved on 2 July 2007. No Pokies MP Nick Xenophon resigned from parliament in early October 2007 in a successful attempt to win a seat in the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, which according to the South Australian result, he retained 72 percent of his 2006 vote, on 14.78 percent.
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The state election for the 51st Parliament of South Australia was held in the Australian state of South Australia on 18 March 2006, and was conducted by the independent State Electoral Office. In the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, the Labor government was returned in a landslide with 28 seats from a 56.8 percent two-party-preferred vote, winning six seats which were previously Liberal, who were reduced to just 15 seats, the worst result in their history. In the 22-seat South Australian Legislative Council, the balance of power has been continuously held by the crossbench since the 1985 election. With half of the seats up for election, Labor gained an additional seat at the expense of the Liberals, Nick Xenophon and No Pokies rose to prominence after unexpectedly winning a historic fifth of the entire statewide vote, the Greens won their first seat, Family First won their second seat to hold two seats, while the faltering Democrats failed to win a seat for the first time in their history.
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In her native land, she is a multi-platinum-selling hit songwriter, having co-penned the 'classic rock' hit, "Blow Up the Pokies" (performed by The Whitlams), which was ranked 11th in a popular vote as one of the countries Top 20 Best Songs of All Time. Her song, "Charlie # 3" (also co-written with Tim Freedman from The Whitlams and a track on the breakthrough album, "Eternal Nightcap") was performed at the Sydney Opera House by The Whitlams and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in December 2009. Her song, "Everyone Wants to Adore You" was recently featured in a major Global advertising campaign in Bulgaria. She has performed and recorded with a diverse range of artists such as Sufjan Stevens ("All Delighted People" EP), Sarah Blasko, Noe Venable, Clare & The Reasons, John Wesley Harding, Missy Higgins, Matt Kanelos, Martha Wainwright, Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), Glenn Patscha (Ollabelle), Joan As Policewoman, The Last Town Chorus and Madeleine Peyroux, Elysian Fields and was recently cited as one of NYC's Top 20 Orchestral Pop artists (the Deli Magazine).
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