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Pokie trouble

It is definitely worrisome about so much money being lost through poker machine gambling (Editor’s Desk, Weekender January 27). I don’t know what the answer is, but maybe we should go backwards to the future. Go back to the old “one armed bandits” with only dollar or two dollar coins being inserted instead of hundred dollar notes. And too many ways on modern pokies to speed up the loss of your betting money. With multiple lines and features, and fast movement from inserting note to finished gamble. Plus the acceptance of high money cash notes ($100). Far too much to lose in one go. The old-fashioned pokies would require the one or two dollar coin to be inserted – then the handle pulled once, and then the wait for the machine tumblers to fall into position, which would slow down the gambling process markedly. Also, having to use one or two dollar coins would help slow down the laundering of dirty money. A hundred thousand dollars of two dollar coins would be impossible to carry around unnoticed. The gambling industry is focused on greed, I am afraid, so we all must get together and slow down the losing (through gambling) of our precious everyday ready cash.

GRAHAM ELPHICK, VIA EMAIL

Limits are a step too far

Despite the trouble alcohol and smoking causes, there is no limit on how much booze you can buy nor how many cigarettes you can purchase. Yet Dominic Perrottet wants to tell us how much we can gamble, irrespective of what we can and can’t afford.

This whole thing will be a disaster. People will go to more unregulated, online forms of gambling – including overseas based online pokies. Perhaps simpler, friends and family will share cards to get around limits that may exist. This is poor handling of a situation, when the real solution needs to be better intervention when it comes to solving problem gambling in the first place.

RICHARD TASK, PENRITH

An obvious return

It’s great that Dominic Perrottet has confirmed Stuart Ayres will return to Cabinet. But it seems strange to me that we’re going to an election without knowing what Perrottet’s front bench will look like. With so many retirements and exits, the team he’s taking to the election is simply warming the seats for the next Cabinet. Surely a better approach would be to say “this is the team I want to lead New South Wales for the next four years”, not “this is the team we had, you’ll see who we’ve got after you vote for us”. I think it’s a very poorly thought out approach.

STEVE WILLOUGHBY, CRANEBROOK

Where’s Albo?

Has Anthony Albanese visited Lindsay since the election? I understand we’re a Liberal seat, but it feels like Labor is simply ignoring this part of Sydney. So much criticism of Albo failing to visit Alice Springs, which was fair enough, but it seems they’re not alone in missing out on seeing such important representation.

SARAH EGGLAND, VIA EMAIL

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