Tuesday, 26 August, 2025
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starcommunity.com.au FREE
Hoons’ day of reckoning
Media-op backlash
Waste’s burning issue
Elimination derby awaits
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SPORT
Casts of characters Children’s Book Week came to life as school students dressed up as their favourite literary characters across Australia last week. Dandenong North Primary School student Nyla embodied Ariel the ‘Little Mermaid’, high fiving students during an upbeat book week parade on 22 August. More pictures, turn to page 14
(Stewart Chambers: 497259)
Pokies backlash In further backlash, a controversial cardless poker-machine trial in Greater Dandenong has lost support from a key gambling-reform body. The Alliance for Gambling Reform announced its withdrawal of support from the State Government trial, citing the lack of a timeline, ongoing delays and the absence of mandatory pre-committed loss limits. Meanwhile, Greater Dandenong Council was set to debate on 25 August on whether to follow the Alliance’s stance. Councillor Rhonda Garad, who authored the
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motion, stated that removing mandatory precommitment undermined the trial’s harm-minimisation purpose and offered no meaningful new protection. Recently, deputy mayor Sophie Tan indicated the council would state its disappointment to the Government about the lack of mandatory precommitment. Monash Council – which is also part of the trial’s rollout - is reportedly doing the same. The alliance’s chief advocate Tim Costello agreed that the trial, in its present form, was a
“complete waste of time”. “We believe the current approach simply reflects a strategy that panders to the gambling industry and is all designed to delay, delay, delay.” Costello said a recent Government report showed the escalating cost of gambling on the community. The $14.1 billion in costs to the community outstripped the $7.2 billion in revenue to industry, and $2.28 billion in tax revenue in the same year.
In July, the State Government announced the trial in all 43 venues with gaming machines in Monash, Greater Dandenong and Ballarat from September to November. People gambling at these venues will need to use a YourPlay card to play electronic gaming machines and can set loss limits – which Gaming Minister Enver Erdogan said would help “people take control of their gambling and make better choices”. More on the story, turn to page 4