Melbourne suburb concerned about development near pubs with gaming machines
Residents of Deer Park in western Melbourne, Australia, have expressed concern over plans to build 500 homes on the site of a former explosives depot next to pubs with gaming machines. This was reported by ABC News.
The site, which had stood vacant for years, is to be converted into a residential development. At the same time, some local residents, while welcoming the new housing, are concerned about the proximity of a venue with gaming machines and the lack of an alternative community space in the project.
Local resident Graham Blor, who has opposed the project for years, called it a potential disaster for social housing. According to him, the Brimbank local government area has one of Melbourne's highest levels of gambling losses.
Gambling losses
In the past financial year, players lost A$185 million in Brimbank—more than in any other local government area in the state of Victoria. The Deer Park Hotel, located next to the future development, recorded A$19.5 million in player losses. At the Deer Park Club, located less than a kilometre away, losses amounted to another A$17 million.
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For the first time in 70 years, Blor joined a political party—the West Party. Its candidate in Werribee, Paul Hopper, said the party does not seek to ban gaming machines completely but wants to remove features that may intensify addiction, including signals that create an impression of winning while losing. The party also proposes changing the speed at which the machines spin.
Reform before the election
Gaming machines bring Victoria's treasury about A$1.5 billion in taxes each year. The social consequences of problem gambling in the state, for which such machines are the biggest factor, were estimated at A$14 billion.
In 2023, the Labor government announced plans to introduce a system under which players would have to set in advance the amount they could lose and use a card to play. Legislation for its implementation has already been passed and trials have been conducted, but broader rollout has been postponed. The Coalition said it would publish the trial results if it came to power, while the Greens support a gradual phase-out of gaming machines and stricter betting limits.
