My father's local club now has the proceeds from his house sale, superannuation policy and 2 inheritances.
At 66, he has little money and a minimal relationship with his family. I try to see him as the person he was 20 years ago - not the shell of someone he is now. To see this change - brought on by his addiction to pokie machines - is devastating. My efforts to further prevent his own self destruction have been futile. I have contacted his club and Gamblers Anonymous but because I unable to prevent him - as an individual with choice - from his actions I am left with no option but to just watch.
Politicians such as Barry O'Farrell's ignorance as to how their actions further contribute to this situation is astounding.
How does allowing new types of gambling technology in NSW support their policy of "Standing up for Australian families".
How does it align with their comment on the 2010 Productivity Commission Report into Gambling that gambling has become a "significant problem for some people in our community, predominately affecting those who can least afford it"
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My own children could have written a lot of this. As Tim Falkiner says...we need a "Family of Pokies Users" resource group! PLUS we need to find much better ways of alerting our family members to a loved one's over-gambling...BEFORE that over-spending becomes entrenched in rank pokies addiction! Allowing families to access a record of a loved one's gambling spending that should be brought in for every pokies user....from Day ONE of their gambling...would go a long way to help to avoid this family pain. Seeing in black and white the TOTAL amount of money spent upon gambling would also jolt many would-be addicts back into the real world, much earlier! Family losses could be much better avoided altogether! My heart goes out to the writer above.
ReplyDeletePlease ask your Dad how he feels about learning more about how he got addicted in the first place? He may respond to the information positively. NO pokies gambler set out originally to 'get addicted'...and most pokies addicts feel huge remorse once they come to their senses...too late sadly to preserve assets, but not too late to stop others from experiencing their fate!
Your Dad would be in a useful position to warn others, if he could see that his addiction was very much thrust upon him. He was an unwitting conduit...for very much of the time he zoned out and thus 'gambled the farm'!
Yes we cause our own mistakes in life and yes we are responsible for paying them...but the business that created the hazard in the first place...and the governments that supported it...also need to shoulder the blame. Right now your Dad has lost everything...even his family. He needs 'bringing back'...and he needs tools of encouragement to fight on! Your post shows that you may be able to make him see reason! At last!