The warnings and cautionary messages are plastered all over television and radio with advertisements promoting gambling, telling people that they should seek help for their addiction. How is it that this hypocritical gesture is condoned by the government and accepted by the population? With half a million Australians destroying their lives, why is the national pastime that is gambling still existent in our culture?
Australians lose more money per adult on gambling than every other developed country in the world. With over 300,000 Australians going into debt and many losing their homes the clearly destructive activity shouldn’t be continued. These losses are not comparable to the families and friends that suffer as their relationships are broken
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Gambling costs taxpayers millions of dollars through treatment, crime health issues and bankruptcy. In Victoria, the cost to the Justice system was 26 million dollars and in the Health Sector the government spends a further 37.5 million a year in treatment programs designed to combat problem gambling. The ‘Office of Economic and Statistical Research’ reported that the expenditure involved in the treatment of health issues arising from gambling was at an estimated 400 million. These health issues such as depression and anxiety are attributed to many gamblers. Dr Mark Zirnzack, from InterChurch Gambling Taskforce responded to the inquiry into the cost of gambling. He stated that the report mentioned, “highlights the disturbing reality that while the Victorian government reaps significant financial benefit through gambling taxes, the cost of the harms are carried by vulnerable people and their families, leaving a trail of devastated lives and broken homes ' '. This is just another reason that Gambling should be banned. We as Australians should not need to be paying extra money to clean up a mess that can be easily stopped by the