Gamblers will find a way - in spite of the flu

Robert Anthony, US best selling author once said: “Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable than risk being happy.”

For the past couple of weeks I followed with great interest the equine flu controversy that literally brought the thoroughbred racing industry to its knees. Many commentators anticipate the cost of quarantining high numbers of horses to their stables to exceed $1 billion if the industry is forced to close for more than a month.

Everyday on the way to work I pass large electronic signs on the highway saying “No horse movement allowed” with a free call number further illuminated for the public to contact to report such activity.

So serious is the threat to the industry that Prime Minister John Howard announced an independent inquiry into the spread of equine influenza to horses in Australia.

Under this new inquiry former High Court judge Ian Callinan will have full powers to find out if quarantine standards were breached when the virus entered the country.

I first heard of this raging debate when media attention focused on a suspected outbreak of the virus at a national equestrian event at Warwick, 100km west of my home town Toowoomba, that didn’t particularly concern most Indigenous people I come in contact with and who rarely attend let alone participate in such an expensive hobby.

However, the following Saturday alarm bells were certainly ringing when sober punters, including many of my friends, entered their favourite pub TAB only to be told that betting was suspended on horse racing indefinitely at various venues in Queensland and New South Wales.

Alarm soon turned to angst as it became apparent that an innocuous cough and raised body temperature of prized thoroughbreds would totally interrupt their Saturday outing at their favourite watering hole.

The quote that best summed up the general mood of dedicated punters to this extraordinary occurrence was captured on the evening television news recently from a disgruntled tipster who said he had been attending race meetings every Saturday for 40 years and stressed that going to the races was like “waking up and having breakfast”, such was his religious devotion to the sport of kings.

As a reformed gambler of many years who has gone cold turkey on all forms of gambling: TAB, poker machines, lottery, keno, scratchies and so on, including not betting on the iconic Melbourne Cup, I was hoping this equine flu setback would convince some of my friends to give up gambling as well.

After talking to some of them I learnt of their initial thoughts of seeing the “horse meeting cancelled” sign on the TV monitor on day one as being a fusion of dismay tinged with an unmistakable feeling of despondency. But their shock was only momentary as the desire to win or part with their cash was evidently far greater than a need to reflect and contemplate giving the gambling game away.

Stories have it that my old punting pals gradually shook off their disappointment, collected themselves, and proceeded into the poker machine area of their pub for the rest of day to try their luck, with minimal success to report.

To them it was a typical day’s outing with a predictable outcome and the loss of money they couldn’t afford to lose in the first place would not act as a deterrent -because without fail, they will return to their favourite gambling venue the following Saturday.

On occasions some of my old pals will win on the horses or pokies and make good use of their windfall but in the main they will be as eager as ever to revisit the TAB or pokies the next day to try valiantly to double their winnings.

And we all know that their chances of a repeat run of luck are rare due to odds being stacked firmly against punters. To confirm this theory yourself just compare the vehicles and houses of the publicans whose hotels the punters frequent or those of the bookies they engage with at race tracks to that of the average punter.

Say no more!

The addicted ones within my old circle of friends will also frequent the same venue during the week and on Friday night to gamble, if money permits - and may even go to another venue to give the appearance to other mates that they haven’t gambled that week.

Herein lays the problem with people who like to gamble. And the dilemma for them is that they don’t see their gambling habit as being a problem.

Gambling isn’t an Indigenous specific problem but it is held in dangerously high regard by many as a favourite leisure pursuit.

The Productivity Commission (1999) identified Australia as one of the largest gambling countries in the world with over 80 per cent of the population participating in various forms of gambling. Over one-fifth (20 per cent) of the world’s electronic gaming machines are in Australia.

It is not surprising that Governments of all persuasions support gambling in this country as they derive more than 12 per cent of their taxation revenue from gambling.

The Australian National University Centre for Gambling Research identified that in 2003-04, total gambling expenditure within Australia was $16.21 billion.

The latest Australian Council for Social Services (ACOSS) report; A fair go for all Australians, identified the number of people living below the poverty line at 935,000 or 9.9 per cent of all Australians in 2004.

The poverty line is a benchmark that the government sets at 50 per cent of the median (middle) disposable income (money available after essential expenditure) for all Australian households for a single adult. In 2004 this poverty line was $249 a week.

Groups identified as being below the poverty line include:

• 40.2 per cent of unemployed people;
• 39.0 per cent of single adults over 65 years;
• 31.5 per cent of all people whose main income is social security;
• 22.8 per cent of single adults of workforce age; and
• 11.4 per cent of sole parent families.

From that snap shot of people who are represented in the “below the poverty line” category it is apparent that the majority of Indigenous people fall comfortably into this group based on recent ABS statistics on household income.

It therefore points to the fact that this group with a disposable income of less than $249 a week can ill afford to squander it when they have demands for competing payments on rent, food, clothing, school costs, sporting costs and so on.

On most weeks one or more of the above urgent expenses is placed on the back burner as scarce resources go to feeding selfish and addictive gambling, alcohol and smoking habits of stressed people.

Every Indigenous community has a growing band of lost souls who are now separated from their families and constantly moving between jobs because of their addiction to gambling or alcohol or drugs or a combination of the three.

Sadly, today, many of our Indigenous leaders who occupy responsible positions in tax payer funded organisations or the public service are compulsive gamblers, alcoholics or are identified as drug dependent.

So why do I bother with stories of doom and gloom about gambling and other associated evils when so many of our mob just simply loves to chance their luck?

Since I’ve given up all forms of gambling four years ago after being passionate about the most Australian of all leisure pursuits for all of my adult life I’ve achieved the following:

• went from long term renting to acquiring a mortgage on my first house;
• exclusively spend all my leisure time with my family;
• written three books and writing another and received a Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature in the process;
• named NAIDOC Indigenous Person of the Year
• became the national columnist for the Koori Mail;
• undertaken my PhD through Monash University;
• wrote and produced a documentary which my wife directed;
• delivered keynote addresses to national and international conferences and continue to receive numerous invitations to speak at major forums; and
• today carry a wallet with more folding money than coins and have a bank account that is no longer in the red.

If I was still gambling I would have achieved none of the above and probably be arguing with my family over unpaid bills and spending less quality time with them as a unit.

I encourage people to shake their gambling habit and reward themselves with the immeasurable joys of spending quality time with their loved ones. With sensible financial management practices I can assure them that they will enjoy putting their feet up and watching their asset base grow with every cent saved by not gambling.

And for those who don’t want to give up gambling and insist that they don’t have a problem I guess the famous quote from Robert Anthony runs true: “Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable than risk being happy”.