A Political Trip

When you're on a roll and procrastinating over a deadline, there is nothing quite as satisfying as being reminded about a politician that really pissed you off because it gives you a great excuse to re-examine exactly what it was about them that shit you so much.

And today's candidate is...*drumroll* Australian Senator Nick Xenaphon.

Aside from the fact he has a last name that sounds like an instrument used to apply auditory torture, this guy is a spectacular policy gnome.

He paints himself the defender, the crusader and man of the common peeps and he is sometimes. But most of the time he's no different to the rest of them. He's just looking for a soft target to land a few punches on in order to elevate his own position in the political schoolyard in Canberra.

The issue that shits me right now is Xenaphon's cozy little arrangement with Andrew Wilke - a neurotic, paranoid pollie mate of his from down the Apple Isle (Tasmania for those of you outside Oz). They've both climbed on board an emotionally charged bandwagon and set off around the country to throw a few bombs at the club industry.

The shitty issue of the day is poker machines.  These are a highly contentious and divisive subject.  The presence of poker machines is a very common thing in NSW. Casinos have them. Clubs have them. Pubs have them. In fact, it is said we have the highest ratio of pokie machines per capita anywhere in the world.

Lots of people hate them. Lots of people that have never put any money into one have objections to their existence.  One of this country's best loved indie bands The Whitlams even wrote lyrics about the evils of the pokie machine into a hit song.  Poker machines have a lot of money pumped into them.

For some people it becomes an addiction - the same way cigarettes, alcohol or endless episodes of Will & Grace do for others.  Serious addictions very nearly always carry financial risk to the addict and those around them.  

(Will & Grace is a rare example of a truly victimless addiction although my fiancee would disagree after more than four back to back episodes).

Xenaphon and Wilke are on a mission to abolish pokies. They have contented themselves for now with leveraging deals with the minority Labor Federal Government and the desperate, soon to be deposed, State Labor clowns that will dramatically change the way information is collected about poker machine users.

They have proposed all poker machines be fitted with biometric readers so ANYONE that wants to use them must cede their data to the Government. This is the kind of shit I choke on.

Here's the thing.   I am well educated and aware of the facts, figures and statistics related to how much social tragedy the issue of problem gambling causes.  I am equally well educated about the club industry and it's close relationship with community.

Here's the trip. I can not agree with the extent to which the personal freedoms of the majority are being legislated against in order to address the issues, weaknesses and failings of a very small minority.

On a percentage basis, a very small number of people have a poker machine gambling problem. The vast majority of folk can go to their local club and enjoy a bit of a flutter from time to time with no ill effect on their personal circumstances.

The very notion of offering the Government my biometric data in order to exercise my  right to spend my own money in a way I want to, engaged in a perfectly legal activity appalls absolutely every fibre of my being. It is the very worst kind of paternalistic policy making. Control and limit  the many in order to target the few - it is wasteful and invasive in the extreme.

What really rips me about this issue is that this has NOTHING to do with any real regard for the addicts or their victims. This has EVERYTHING to do with political profile building for Xenaphon and Wilke. In the process of their self aggrandised roadshow around the country spouting nonsense like "harm minimisation" they are going to rip the guts out of the club industry and in doing so, will irrevocably damage thousands of small community groups, NFP's and charities.

This is because a very substantial proportion of money derived from poker machines goes back into the community via what is known as the CDSE programme.  Major organisations like the Ted Noffs Foundation would not be able to run some of their most important programmes without the funding that flows from the CDSE. There are literally thousands of groups and community organisations that would not open their doors each morning if not for the support of these major clubs.

It is rare for me to become so incensed about a political issue that I will contact one of them. I'm not a trainspotter and as someone who holds an Honors Degree in Political Science, I expect politicians to be full of the good old fashioned ka-ka.

So all I wanted from Xenaphon was an answer to a couple of questions that might help me ascertain how much of his political ego trip was based on a genuine desire to help addicts and victims and how much was photo opportunity and media spin.

If you are an avid despiser of the pokies and you love to pump your fist in the air and cheer everytime a gnome like Xenaphon or Wilke lands a blow to the club industry, or if you just want to know whether they have any real policy beyond wanting to capture a shit load of personal data about average punters, have a read of these questions.

Tell me if you think these are feasible approaches to solving the poker machine part of the problem gambling issue.

I'd really like to know why Senator Xenaphon won't answer the questions. I think he's trying to sidestep my shit...

Senator Xenaphon - can you please advise if you are doing any of the following in parallel with your poker machine campaign: 

1. Are you tackling federal and state govts to stop dismantling the mental health system. Problem gambling is a mental health issue. 
2. Have you put forward any motions, proposals or other actions that would seek to extend the legal protections for victims of problem gamblers - ie: give them the right to freeze family bank accounts, take over possession of family assets such as the home or have the salaries of the problem gambler diverted into safe accounts - and this could be a legal recourse available to children in those cases where both parents have a problem and would have to be subject to evidential processes. 
3. Will you tackle the manufacturers to remove the hooks from their machines - this includes the flashing lights and the repetitive music that peals from them, and put the images on the spinning rollers in black and white, rather than in colour - all of these are well known psychological hooks that are designed to embed with the user. Removing them from the machines themselves would be very likely to greatly reduce the appeal of them. 

Senator Xenaphon - Any reduction in the use of machines forced by the use of biometrics (causing a mass aversion to use by everybody) not only unfairly limits the personal freedoms of the responsible majority, it will prove a hollow victory.  It will simply funnel the worst of the addicts into other activity - and that will include an increased level of underground activity, where the stakes are higher and the methods used for collecting debt can have very dire consequences.

Senator - please can we aim a little higher than simply stomping on the rights of the majority because of a small percentage of individuals that have tragic failings?