Tim Costello article
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2 May 1997
Rev Tim Costello
Spokesperson
Interchurch Gambling Task Force
The Four Myths of Crown Casino
The orgy of free publicity the Crown Casino has attracted these
past few weeks should cause us to pause and reflect. We are celebrating an institution
that our parents and grandparents regarded as a vice. The value shifts involved
in such a short space of time are simply breathtaking. This casino is an unprecendented
social experiment breaking like waves on our children. It is like the whole
of our culture has been caught by a rip and carried hundreds of metres down
the beach without even recognising what has happened. Our civic fathers and
mothers would shake their heads in disbelief at our ‘casino culture’. So what
are the myths that have made such a cultural transition possible?
- ‘That the people of Melbourne wanted a Casino.’ There was no Casino lobby
group in existence or public agitation for a Casino. Unlike lobby groups for
legalising marijuana or countless other causes, the casino was not born out
of public demand. Rather, it was a powerful convergence of the financial interests
of the gambling industry and the financial plight of the Kirner State government.
The Government has won with huge gambling tax windfalls now the third largest
source of Government revenue. Government dependency on gambling is well documented
and is graphically illustrated by the fact that the Minister for Finance is
also the Minister for Gaming.
- ‘That the Casino will bring economic revitalisation and jobs.’ Certainly,
the construction of the casino and its early days have brought extra jobs
but the experience in the United States is sobering. Atlantic City saw casinos
gross a total of over US$33 billion from their introduction in 1978 until
1993 - an amount equivalent to a million dollars for every man, woman and
child in that city. However, in the same period there was a loss of 40% of
the city’s independent restaurants. Only four years after the introduction
of the casinos in Atlantic City, a third of the city’s retail businesses had
closed. Atlantic City’s unemployment rate was 30% higher than the State average
and by 1993 it was double the State average. The crime rate tripled. Thanks
to the Victorian Break Even figures, we now know that 25% of gambling addicts
in Melbourne finance their habit from crime. In Atlantic City the expansion
of casinos had a drastic effect on real estate values, creating a windfall
for some property owners but serious problems for many others. Crown Casino,
which has a floor space five times larger than that of the largest shopping
centre in Australia, will create similar economic imbalances.
- ‘That the government can both promote and at the same time regulate gambling.’
Because of its over-reliance on the gambling dollar, the government has failed
badly in its regulation of gambling. Crown, as a monopoly, has a privileged
place in a society whereas every other business has to compete. Why does a
monopoly have to be so aggressively advertised? Notwithstanding the millions
it spends on its own self-promotion, it has had the Premier describe it as
a ‘beacon of hope’ (1993), and the ‘spirit of Victoria’ (1994). He has come
to its aid whenever called upon. As Crown’s spokesperson, Gary O’Neill, said
recently, ‘It’s always been Kennett’s show.’ (Herald/Sun 25 April, 1997).
The government failed to charge Crown Casino an extra $174
million for its additional gaming tables. It allowed Crown to put its logo
on our street signs in defiance of the Road Safety Traffic Regulations and
to have 52 bright blue signs around Melbourne, again in defiance of the same
regulations. The government discontinued gambling harm minimisation TV ads
which were so effective 12 months ago. Its only response to the criticism
of the Victorian Council of Problem Gambling that made those ads has been
to defund them. The Minister for Finance and Gaming dissolved his advisory
committee on problem gambling when churches insisted on their right to nominate
their own representative to it. Far from properly regulating gaming and authorising
a sustained advertising campaign such as the TAC ads, the government has proved
to be the ‘biggest gambling addict’ in the State. There is a sinister new
meaning to the term ‘Minister of the Crown’.
4. ‘That no one’s forced to gamble at Crown Casino.’ The
beloved defence of the Premier is that gambling is simply a matter of choice.
As an ex-advertising man, he knows that when advertisers like Crown are spending
$20 million a year on promotion that they are not wasting their money. They
are manufacturing and manipulating choice. And their message is targeted at
Victorians rather than overseas high rollers, as 85% of visitors to Crown
are local people. Literally, all cultural roads now lead to Crown Casino.
The kids’ football heroes are paid appearance money to be there. The abundance
of shops, cinemas and virtual reality games completely blur the boundaries
between family entertainment and gaming. The South Eastern Freeway runs into
Crown’s carpark (the biggest in the southern hemisphere). And there is a special
entrance from the new City Link Freeway into Crown. Crown openly admits that
it has successfully cornered the Asian and working class market and that the
new Casino (now the ‘Crown Entertainment Complex’ with the nasty word ‘casino’
dropped) is to seduce the Anglo-Saxon middle classes.
In the minds of the next generation, to go to the Casino is
synonymous with fun and for their parents with ease and cheapness of parking.
This will feed Crown with ever new generations of gamblers.
Next... 'Life
Gone To Darkness', a story by Dao Pham.
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