Shaun meets the head of the gambling industry’s peak body, and ‘gambling influencers.’
In the season finale of Shaun Micallef’s Going for Broke….
Shaun Micallef goes head-to-head with the gambling industry and tackles gambling reform head-on in this third andfinal episode, asking what can be done to stop the next generation falling prey to voracious betting companies.
Shaun starts the final leg of his journey on Queensland’s Gold Coast, witnessing first-hand the latest trend – gambling influencers. He meets social media influencer Luca Kante. 23-year-old Luca has amassed a huge lnstagram following simply by filming himself playing poker machines. His 260-thousand followers – mostly men in their early 20s – enjoy watching Luca win big or lose big, and he’s become so popular he’s launched his own line of merchandise.
Shaun is disturbed by the trend, and experts warn that impressionable young fans could fall into risky gambling habits.
Even more disconcerting, underage gambling is already an epidemic, with 12-17 year-olds betting more than 200 million dollars annually. Shaun discovers that kids are already exposed to gambling from a young age when he joins a footy-mad family to watch an NRL game in Wollongong. The kids are already hyper-aware of the different betting companies and their funny ads.
Despite a parliamentary report (The Murphy Report) calling for major gambling reform in 2023, only recently has the Government proposed some reform. But is it enough? Shaun heads to Canberra, where he talks to independent senator and former Wallabies captain David Pocock about the
Federal Government’s Lack of urgency. He also has a chance to grill thehead of Responsible Wagering Australia, the peak industry body representing the biggest betting companies in the nation.
So how can we really improve Australia’s relationship with “having a punt”? Gambling researcher Dr Charles Livingstone tells Shaun that, Like smoking and alcohol, gambling should be treated as a health problem and made the responsibility of the Federal Health Minister. But are there too many vested interests, and too much money at stake, for wholesale reform to happen?
There is however a glimmer of hope. While change might not be coming from the top down, some at a local level are proving it’s possible to turn a profit without gambling. Shaun visits Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney’s inner west. Once a rundown club with a dying membership and flagging fortunes, the venue now thrives thanks to their bold decision to scrap poker machines. Since the club went pokies-free, membership has soared, using a business model that doesn’t rely on people losing money to survive.
8pm Tuesday on ABC.