Brimbank punters spent more money on poker machines than anyone else in the state last financial year.
Data from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Reform (VCGLR) shows gaming venue operators in Brimbank raked in $138.5 million from electronic gaming machines during 2013-14.
That spending was up by almost $1 million on last year’s figure.
On average, Brimbank punters lost more than $11 million each month, spread across 15 licensed venues, with a total of 976 EGMs between them.
Kealba Hotel had the fifth-highest expenditure in the state – with $17.3 million being put through the pokies.
Monash University’s Dr Charles Livingstone, senior lecturer in the school of public health and preventive medicine, said there were no surprises in these figures.
He said that despite an increase in total expenditure on EMGs in Brimbank, the fact the increase was less than inflation meant spending was effectively down in real terms. “It’s about 2.5 per cent below inflation, which is on trend with the rest of Victoria,” Dr Livingstone said. “There has been a long-term decline in expenditure, but that decline has slowed a little.”
He said the VCGLR data reflected a number of factors, namely the high concentration of EGMs in disadvantaged areas of the state.
Dr Livingstone said the statistics should prompt a rethink of the current system.
“We could look at a host of other measures to reduce the harm which comes from the increase in machines in identified areas of disadvantage.”
Brimbank has a number of big-spending hotels. Venues with yearly expenditure surpassing $15 million are the Kealba Hotel, Deer Park Hotel, Taylors Lakes Family Hotel, Watergardens Hotel and Westend Market Hotel.
Epping Plaza Hotel was again the venue where punters lost the most money. The hotel is owned by Hotel and Leisure Management, which also owns Watergardens Hotel in Taylors Lakes, among others.
