By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A LARGE advertising billboard in North Geelong is highlighting $111 million in annual losses on the region’s gaming machines.
Anti-pokies campaigner Paul Bendat funded the billboard, which faced more than 36,000 Geelong passers-by daily on Melbourne Road.
The City of Greater Geelong community billboard carried a “harm” figure of $110,968,114 lost on pokies in 12 months, the fifth highest in Victoria, Mr Bendat said.
“It raises awareness of the issue and gets people to think twice about using pokies. It says that where pokies are concerned, Geelong, you lose.”
Mr Bendat began his anti-pokies crusade eight years ago to combat what he described as the “normalisation of gambling”.
He said the billboard was part of a push to convince government to adopt a reform reconfiguring gaming machines with a maximum bet of $1 and an hourly loss limit of $120.
Mr Bendat said the reform was based on Commonwealth Productivity Commission research.
He said gambling industry claims it generated jobs were false.
“What it actually does is suck money out of the community.”
Geelong Gambling Advisory Committee chair Cr Jan Farrell said the huge amount of money leaving Geelong annually would surprise many people.
“It impacts local businesses because that money is not being spent locally in cafés and restaurants or other entertainment venues.
“If that money was spent in the Geelong economy every year we could create many more jobs.”
