Gamble Free Day a Great Success

A high level of involvement by people who have been harmed by pokies was one reason for the success of this year's Gamble Free Day says the Problem Gambling Foundation.

National Operations Manager, Graham Aitken, says that it is difficult for people who have had their lives turned upside down by the machines to speak out publicly about the harm they do.

"This year we had people fronting up on marches and getting on microphones telling others what had happened to them," he said.

"It takes a lot of courage, but once people start doing this the game is up for the pokie industry that relies on secrecy and misinformation to keep a $1 billion a year flowing through their machines.

"When you have ordinary people who have been sucked in by these machines standing in the square in Christchurch, or outside the casino in Auckland telling the truth about how the industry works it gets a bit hard to maintain the myth that only a few dysfunctional people get hurt by pokies.

"We had businesspeople speaking out about how their staff are at risk just by coming in contact with the machines, and we had all sorts of people turn out for Gamble Free Day activities all over the country.

"The evidence about the harm these machines do is in - and people are not happy about it."

Mr Aitken says that most people who lived in poorer communities understood how much harm the pokies are doing but there is still work to be done on convincing the lawmakers to do anything about it.

"The Gambling Act is under review and the people who are hurting from the large numbers of pokies in their communities want major reform," he says.

"But the two main political parties seem to have made a pact to rush this legislation through regardless of public opinion.

"They are both saying this is not the time to make reforms, but they do not say when the right time will be.

"It does make you wonder what is going on."