Whinges expected and unexpected: gambling and Western Australia's share of the GST

I'm aware that it is hard to do a simple cost-benefit analysis of gambling.

And I know that it's a big money earner for State governments.

So not encouraging gambling is bad for state revenues. And if private organizations mop up any social problems gambling creates, then it's three in a row ("win-win-win") for a state government and they've hit the jackpot.

I just thought that enough people were a little concerned about gambling and its effects for the members of the CGC's decision that it makes sense to raise a few concerns about, if not objections to, this approach. Especially given the propensity for Australians to become addicted to gambling.

It is heartening to know that Nick Xenophon sees the problem. But Team Xenophon and West Australians shouldn't be the only ones concerned about this. And if any "Whinges from the West" deserve to be taken seriously, then this one does.

There are a number of options here. One of them is for the members of the CGC to take actual gambling revenue into account (something "our" Allanah McTiernan called for during one of her earlier incarnations as a State Minister).

But the calculations are secondary to the bigger issue of whether we want more gambling, despite what many see to be its social costs.

It certainly seems worth a debate about the members of the CGC effectively encouraging the WA government to raise more money by increasing gambling in this state, rather than ignoring the implications of the way the members of the CGC treat gambling revenue. Even if it starts with a "Whinge from the West"…