Vic: Bored suburbanites splurge on pokies
05 Jan 2009 6:14 PM
Desperate housewives in Melbourne have led a 500 million dollar outer suburban poker machine splurge.
Figures from Victoria's gambling regulator show residents of some outer municipalities are pumping 10 million dollars a month into poker machines.
Anti-gambling campaigner the Reverend TIM COSTELLO says bored suburban women are vulnerable to problem gambling because it also meets a need for social interaction.
The City of Brimbank .. which includes the suburbs of Deer Park .. Sunshine and Taylors Lakes .. is Victoria's gambling hotspot with 58 million dollars spent on its 953 poker machines in the first five months of the 2008/09 financial year.
Monash which takes in Glen Waverley .. Clayton and Oakleigh is the state's second biggest poker machine region .. with a 53.5 million dollar plunge .. while Casey which takes in Cranbourne .. Berwick and Hallam splurged 53 million.
Victorians spent more than 17 million dollars more on pokies in the first five months of 2008/09 than they did for the corresponding period last year.
Greater Geelong is regional Victoria's biggest gambler .. with almost 50 million dollars spent on gambling.
