Australians spent record amounts on gambling last year. They wagered $94.5 billion, or $6,835 per adult. They lost $11.3 billion, or an average of $818 an adult. This was up from $736 per adult the previous year.
Total government gambling revenue was more than $3.8 billion, a rise of more than $400 million.
It is a sad state of affairs. The real risk is that state and territory Governments will become hooked on the gambling revenue. Rather than imposing taxes as a means of discouraging gambling, the taxes have raised so much money that the states and territory governments cannot seem to do without it. So they encourage gambling and allow more forms of it.
The tragedy is that the burden falls on people with low income, those who can least afford it. Moreover, problem gamblers cause other social families which cost society.
The issue remains an important one. As the Senate approaches the GST debate next week it should keep an eye out for how the change in the tax mix will help wean the states away from a reliance on gambling revenue. Anything in the tax mix which helps broaden and stabilise the states’ tax base can only help.