I have no intention of addressing one poster again.
But ask to be judged by all here.
I have again seen a deliberate LIE used in this debate, this need not be about politics.
If some insist it is then show me how it in ANY WAY is a tax.
The plan is aimed at stopping the 12% who gamble too much.
No tax,not one cent extra to play the machines in this proposal.
Just a regulation that SELF SET pre playing limits be set.
A TAX ON FOOTBALL?
Is it not true football clubs make up less than 30% of all clubs and pubs who have poker machines.
Julia Gillard can not win an election.
If Tony Abbott and his front bench went to prison in the morning Gillard would be trashed by Conservatives womens scon making team in an election.
So why the need to lie, knowingly heartlessly lie?
Football tax?
Poker machines ,see this days headlines, drive crime,hungry kids
They breed social problems.
We should talk about them about all gambling, the social effects the crime around all betting.
And start with? FOOTBALL! players, as in cricket, engineering results for? CASH!

From the data it is about 2.3% that gamble too much not 12%.

Thread has become a victim of our hung Parliament and the loss of faith in truth.
Politics has every right to intrude on every issue but lets look closer.
We are talking about poker machines not problem gamblers in general, that figure is said to be 12%
An intrusion, the deliberate recounting of Eddy Maguires lie, TAX ON FOOTBALL, must be confronted.
Why I will never know.
He is well rebutted in all media and often walks with a foot in his mouth.
Be warned! do not let our next government and its supporters get away with lies even before taking office.
Tell me.
In those states have poker machines how many are in Bowling clubs.
How many in Golf clubs.
RSL/Returned Services.
How many in other sporting clubs include the lot cricket ext but exclude football.
How many are Social clubs EG workers Church ethnic?
My figure of 30 football is looking shaky, may be 12%
Now TAX a collection of funds, who proposes doing that.
How much more will players pay.
Is it not true,the claim it is a tax is BECAUSE FEARS IT WILL BRING PROBLEM GAMBLERS TO BET LESS.
Moral fiber we once called it,
We could talk about is it right to facilitate the poor being milked.
I think, at some level the best with in both sides of politics would rather talk about solutions not flog each other for political advantage with a very soiled rag.

The proposed mandatory limits on poker machines will cost the clubs an estimated $3bn to upgrade / replace the machines, with the result that their revenue will fall by up to 40%. While this is not a tax in the strict definition used by the ATO, a secondary definition "Make heavy demands on (someone's powers or resources)" does apply. That it hits many of the Footy clubs would therefore make it a Footy tax, and as far as most of the clubs are concerned, it will be a huge drain on revenue.

While most people are sympathetic to need to address problem gambling, the cure is out of proportion to the disease. Government statistics show that 2.3% of the adult population are problem gamblers, compared to 13% who are considered heavy/ risky drinkers. If anyone tried to introduce registration and tracking card for someone to buy spirits, they would be lynched. While I very seldom gamble, if I had to register and get a card to use the pokies, I simply wouldn't.

The fall out that Labor is suffering is entirely self inflicted. No one believes that it is even a policy that they want to implement, or even believe in, just that they have to implement to stay in power.

SM, I wonder what the figure of 2.3 percent translates into when whole families are affected by the fallout from one person's pokie addiction. If one member of the family blows all the money, it affects more than one person. I think you have to take that into account.

Obviously, it's becoming a significant problem in society or it would not be worth addressing. And don't you think it's a somewhat dishonourable distinction that these clubs maintain themselves through such a device?

Poirot,

While I agree that the fall out extends beyond the person directly, the same applies to drinking as well, and to other activities such as sun bathing and the 1300 people that die every year from melanoma and the nearly 20 000 being treated. Do we ban alcohol, or some spirits? do we ban outdoor activities during the middle of the day? Inflicting controls on everyone to protect a small percentage of the population is the hallmark of the nanny state, eating away at individual freedoms to "protect" us from ourselves.

This pokie reform has serious question marks as to whether it will have the desired effect. Given the magnitude of cost and impact, before it is even considered, it should be trialled along with other measures such as limits on credit card, and cash machine withdrawals.