Watching some of the media coverage around the intertwined NSW state election and NSW pokies lobby issues.
Can anyone tell me what is the actual raison d’être of the clubs in NSW? I don’t mean the original reason for being. That is obvious. They were RSL clubs, Rugby League Clubs, workers clubs, bowls clubs etc. But it’s like they have forgotten any actual practical reason for existence and now essentially exist to make money for the sake of building even larger suburban casinos to put even more pokies machines in, to make more money to build even bigger suburban casinos to fill with more pokies machines and the cycle goes on into perpetuity. They usually have a mutual ownership structure, owned by club members as far as I understand it. So it just doesn’t make sense.
Sure they give a few tax deductible scraps to fund community activities (community sport, charities) and buy some reputation. Offer a few cheap meals and cheap access to the club’s gym and pool to get people through the door to play the pokies. And the sport of rugby league in NSW probably wouldn’t exist without the pokies subsidisation. But this still doesn’t account for the immense revenue. Nowhere near it.
Kind of reminds me of an autoimmune disease. Your immune system has an obvious original purpose, but outgrows it’s original purpose and starts to attack your body. Kind of what the clubs do to society.
Rumour has it, it was Clubs NSW digging up dirt that leaked the photos of a youthful Premier Perrottet in Nazi fancy dress, because he dare suggest a policy aimed at curtailing problem gambling. The gambling lobby in Australia is our political system’s NRA.
In Tasmania we have a relatively powerful pokies lobby. But it consists of one or two wealthy families who own all of the licenses, profiteering from it. Obviously totally distasteful. But at least I can understand it. Simple example of fat cats filling their greedy pockets. But the mutuality of the clubs makes me scratch my head as to what the mission really is. Perhaps they don’t even know themselves. Or are there shady people who have muscled their way into the clubs movement siphoning off large chunks under the table?