we knew it was bad, we said it was bad. nobody listened. why is it that we have to wait for labor to totally stuff the economy before we vote them out? the signs are there already, in neon lights.
PENSIONERS and parents rushed the pokies yesterday just hours after receiving their Federal Government bonus payments.
Excited by their extra cash, many pensioners headed to gaming venues before paying off their bills and buying Christmas gifts.
Pokie operators reported a surge in turnover - some by up by 50 per cent - as the bonus payments were delivered across the nation.
Staff at one western suburbs venue said pensioners were cashing in their cheques.
Punters at the hotel said they were happy to gamble some of their bonus.
"I'm very happy with the extra money," said grandmother Josie Jakubowski, 82.
"It's good to go out, have a good time, spend some money and enjoy myself. I can buy something now, especially for the grandchildren."
A mother of nine said she was still waiting for her bonus, but still made time to play the pokies while her children were at school.
By the end of today, $5 billion in bonus payments will have been distributed across the nation. The remaining $3.7 billion in payments are to be delivered by next Friday.
Gaming venues have been the big winners when Victorians receive unexpected government bonuses.
They raked in millions after the introduction of the Federal Government's $3000 baby bonus in 2004.
Pokie players lost $1.8 billion in the first nine months of 2004-2005, up more than $100 million on the same period a year earlier.
And this year pokies operators are expecting a significant increase on the $220 million they took during December last year.
A Herald Sun survey of clubs this week found many were enjoying higher turnover.
"It was busy Tuesday, too, and it's usually very quiet," one employee from an inner-city club said. "I was shocked. It's been very, very busy."
A staffer at a club in Melbourne's west said all the talk was about the bonus.
"The pensioners have been blowing it. Most of them don't have a lot of family or need to buy gifts for anyone, so they're spending it here."
Other venue operators are expecting a surge in business over the coming days.
"A few days, and we'll be inundated," said a worker at a northern suburbs hotel.
"You can almost guarantee it. People will have money and they'll be spending it."
Clubs Victoria boss Mag Kearney said she encouraged people to spend their bonuses not only on pokies but on all club facilities, so the money would stay in the community.
"It will mean new surfaces at tennis clubs, goal posts and uniforms at footy clubs, and it means they can employ more grounds people."
Anti-pokies campaigner Tim Costello said the loss of handouts to pokie machines was sad for the entire nation.
"What unfortunately happens with people who are lonely, people who have an addiction, that's where that money goes . . . The Government should have realised this is a real risk."
