Plea to break cycle of poverty

03jun03

ONE of Sydney's most socially disadvantaged councils today called on the NSW Government to break the cycle of poverty caused by gaming machines.

Councillor Thang Ngo said residents in the Fairfield City Council area gambled more than a quarter of a billion dollars every year on the 3898 poker machines.

"This equates to $1915 for every adult resident in the Fairfield council area and is double the state average of $906," he said.

Mr Ngo called on the NSW Government to legislate to reduce the number of pokies in Fairfield - which has one for every 34 adults - and other socially disadvantaged areas.

"The government should consider `regional caps' to stop the disproportionate concentration of pokies," he said.

He said while Fairfield residents were losing money to pokies at double the state average, they could least afford to gamble.

In the 1996 Socio-Economic Index of Disadvantage, which took into account income, educational attainment and unemployment, Fairfield scored lowest of all Sydney metropolitan councils, Mr Ngo said.

Fairfield residents spent 6.37 per cent of gross average income on pokies compared to the NSW average of 2.64 per cent, he said.

Comment was being sought from the NSW Government.