Jump to full article: News Interactive Network/News Limited/News.com (au), 2008-05-19
Author: Melanie Christiansen
Intro: QUEENSLANDERS are losing more now to gaming machines than they were before tough new smoking laws were introduced in July 2006.
The latest statistics fly in the face of then treasurer Anna Bligh claiming credit for limiting pokies losses after the first year of the smoking ban.
"The combined effects of our responsible gambling initiatives, smoking bans, and market forces, such as fuel and interest rate costs are ensuring moderation in gambling activity," she said in August last year.
After a temporary dip when the ban first came into force, the amount swallowed up by the state's pokies climbed to $34.5 million a week in the year to the end of April.
That was up more than $2 million a week on losses in the year to the end of June 2007 - the first full year under the smoking ban - when Queensland gaming machines were raking in $32.2 million a week. And it is even higher than the year before the smoking ban, when pokie losses were running around $34.1 million a week.
Jump to full article » |