Strange thing, really.
It’s illegal to operate poker machines in Australia without a liquor license.
Think about that for a moment.
You can’t operate these 
unless you sell this 
.
Which is odd.
Because this fundamentally changes the way you think about this .
We’re always told to use our judgement.
Exercise our will power.
Set limits and stick to them.
But after a few of these how strong is our will power?
After a few of these how good is our judgement?
After a few of these how important do those limits seem?
Maybe we should treat these like these 
.
Maybe we should make it illegal to use these if you’ve had some of this .
Maybe we should stop selling this where we offer these .
We did it with these 
.
Why not this ?
Strange thing, really.
The reason is historical. The Cain Government was desperate for money and wanted to introduce the machines quickly. Requiring a permit would have caused delay and run the risk that there would have been a lot of objections. Attaching them to an existing use – a liquor licence – was a clever, from the government’s viewpoint, choice. I remember standing outside one planning QC’s chambers as he looked morosely at a copy of the new legislation observing morosely, “Nothing here for us.” It must also be appreciated that the government simply did not appreciate the harm that would be caused. There was an underlying assumption in Parliament that if the gambling was honest, it would be safe.