Ballarat Councillor Joshua Morris has put forth a motion to reduce the poker machine cap in the city. The motion comes shortly after the council suggested permitting pokie venues in the business district.
Last week, the Ballarat City Council recommended that poker machine venues should be allowed to exist within the Central Business District. The submission was met with a great deal of resistance from local residents, as residents feel that problem gamblers will have more access to pokies if they are placed in central areas.
However, Morris wants to reiterate that the council takes a harm reduction approach to gambling. As such, he has proposed a new, lower cap on pokies to prove that the council is not simply looking to introduce new pokies into the area. By introducing pokies into the Central Business District, the council actually hopes to reduce problem gambling rates by making pokies inaccessible in residential areas – but the effectiveness of this method is still up for debate.
“I felt there was a bit of confusion in the community as to what the council’s view on pokies was,” Morris says. “We take a harm-minimisation approach. If we can reduce the number of machines we can lessen the harm.”
Currently, Ballarat’s cap on poker machine sits at 663, which is much higher than the average cap for cities across Victoria. There is no word yet on what Morris plans on making the new cap.
Morris’ motion seems to pick up where the previous council left off in 2011. Councillors wanted to reduce the number of poker machines by 30%. Unfortunately, negotiations were put on hold when a new council came into power. Now, Morris proposal for a lower pokie cap could see Ballarat finally lower the number of pokies that the city hosts.
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