Pokies nothing to do with charity - Bob Jones

With friends like Bob Jones....

   The Prime Minister should reject casino conference centre's sleazy trade-off, writes Sir Bob Jones. The Lion Foundation is a charity only in the eyes of the law but it most certainly is not by any dictionary definition. 

   Taking money from zombies by stealth and paying it to worthy causes ain't charity. A charitable donation is one given voluntarily by the payer, which I'm sure is not the case with the dead-beats pumping money into these machines. The amount taken now exceeds $1 billion annually. 

   I recall having dinner in Sydney with a Chinese friend a few years ago. She had recently established a medical practice in Chinatown. "I'm just a social worker," she wailed. "My day is a non-stop series of desperate Chinese girls coming in on some medical pretence. But all they really want is to talk about the mess their lives are as a result of their husbands' poker-machine addiction."

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