Desperate people play dangerous game

GREG ANSLEY reports on the world's heaviest and most afflicted gamblers


CANBERRA - Fred was a desperate man. Aged just 26 and working for peanuts at a club, he had already pumped all of his savings into a casino.

He borrowed money from people he met at the casino - then paid a loan-shark $A2000 ($2445) to arrange a new and doomed ante of $A10,000.

In despair as his debts soared above $A40,000, Fred tried to commit suicide.

At another gaming house a Vietnamese woman borrowed $A9000, paying interest of $A300 a month.

As losses mounted she was pursued with threats of violence.

In a nation that has one of the world's highest and most dangerous rates of gambling, these are commonplace stories.

On a talkback radio show, Prime Minister John Howard faced the harrowing task of convincing a desperate woman not to kill herself over debts.

Up to 7 per cent of inmates in the nation's jails are there for crimes committed to obtain money to play poker machines.

Australian pubs and clubs take more through the pokies than they do over the bar.

And the gambling industry's annual turnover of $A80 billion makes it one of the nation's biggest - and among the most valuable sources of revenue for state Governments.

The $A11 billion Australians lose each year ranks with the gross profits of the agricultural, mining, construction and retail industries.

And a study by the Productivity Commission, ordered by Howard after a wave of public concern at gaming problems, confirms that Australians are among the world's heaviest gamblers.

The casinos, bars and clubs of Australia house one-fifth of the poker machines in the world.

Eight out of 10 Australians gamble - 40 per cent regularly - with 330,000 suffering serious problems that fan out through families and broader communities.

The costs are enormous.

The losses of the nation's problem gamblers amount to a huge $A3 billion a year, or an average of almost $A12,000 each.

According to studies reported by the commission, 25 per cent of problem gamblers have divorced or separated from spouses and partners because of their addiction, and 10 per cent have lost contact with their children..

More than 50 per cent have suffered depression, and 10 per cent have attempted suicide.

About 3200 people a year are forced into bankruptcy by gambling.

And gaming addiction costs the nation's industry up to $A129 million a year in lost productivity through absenteeism and poor job performance.

Crime and deception mount with desperation.

"Typically, a gambler will borrow increasing amounts of money to gamble, disguising the purpose for which the money is being borrowed by shuffling money from one place to another," says the Wesley Community Legal Service.

"For example, a personal loan may be taken out to purchase a car, which is then sold to provide gambling money."

According to the commission, problem gamblers may borrow from loan-sharks or sell personal or family property before moving to crime.

"Once they have exhausted their income, whether wages, salaries, pensions or benefits, they then borrow on credit cards, take out loans, steal from family and friends, sell personal and family property, and then move to stealing from others," the Salvation Army told the inquiry.

Examples of gambling-inspired crime include forging cheques, robbing the till at work, shoplifting, stealing from workmates, social security fraud, stripping cars for parts, dealing in marijuana, regular embezzlement of large sums from corporations or banks, and armed robbery.

While many only steal relatively petty amounts of cash, an alarming number inevitably turn to crime to pay for their addiction.

About one half of problem gamblers seeking help through counselling agencies in Victoria and Queensland admit to having committed crimes.

Two large surveys in New South Wales found that among problem gamblers, seven out of 10 had appeared in court on gambling-related charges, and more than 25 per cent had been in prison because of crime related to gambling.

And when crime does not pay enough, gamblers turn to the loan-sharks who prowl casinos, charging exorbitant fees and interest, and frequently demanding repayment through threats of violence.