Palmerston North City Council missed the chance to show leadership on pokie funds: Dave Mollard

The Cloverlea Tavern was destroyed by fire on February 17. Photo / Mary Eagle

OPINION

Many of us will have memories of the Cloverlea Tavern, some fond, some not so fond.

For me, the Cloverlea was the place where when younger we could walk into the bottle store with an empty glass flagon (we liberated it from my mate’s dad’s garage) and fill it to the top with fresh cold Lion Red for less than $5.

That flagon shared among the three of us would be the basis for a night of laughter, AC/DC and stupidity. It also contributed directly to the throbbing headache we all experienced the next morning.

We were not regulars at the Cloverlea though as it was the hangout of considerably older and maybe wiser minds than ours.

The Cloverlea was destroyed by fire on February 17, caused by an electrical fault.

Like all old-school pubs, it struggled into the new century, closing for long periods before opening again. Like the Fitz, the Awapuni, the Princess, the Cafe de Paris, the Carlton and the Railway (please add more that I have forgotten), it is now consigned to our memories, only to be delved into when bumping into old comrades who also enjoyed the dank and smoky atmospheres only a 1980s pub contained.

You can still get some of that experience at the Albert and the Willow Park, but now they have craft beer on tap, dogs racing on the big screen and a pokies room out the back, possibly the most depressing part of any pub.

Speaking of pokie machines, some of our city councillors tried unsuccessfully to stop our city benefiting from the funds these games of “luck” bring.

The motion on February 7 that the council adopt a policy to not apply for or use class 4 gambling proceeds was lost four votes to nine.

The way these pokie machines work is that 40 per cent of the revenue they create is put back into the community through grants, your local club probably had its newest kit provided by such a grant. The point of the grants is to distract us from the devastation these machines bring to our community.

The machines work on our subconscious, offering us an adrenaline rush and the dream of hitting it big. The reality is much different. In my view, it is previously self-sufficient people sitting at a machine for hours, slowly spending the money they now can’t afford to lose. It’s kids who go without meals, businesses that get ripped off by employees who steal to fund their addiction and it’s people lying to their loved ones about what they have been doing all day or night.

The vote was lost due in some part to a logic that if we remove the pokies, gamblers will just go online. I’m calling BS on that, because pokie machines provide you with some things a laptop doesn’t - noise, flashing lights, big buttons and, of course, situated in a pub where after a few beers maybe this good feeling I have is going to turn into cash.

The Problem Gambling Federation says pokies are the most harmful type of gambling in Aotearoa.

Besides the clear message we should be sending, that these things are harmful, surely it’s just maths? The fewer pokies we have, the less community damage we have.

Dave Mollard is a Palmerston North community worker and social commentator.