Stop Woolies gambling with kids - Nick Xenophon - Independent Senator for South Australia

UPDATE:

My office received over 260 signed petitions, which I have forwarded to Woolworths. Woolworths have since notified us that they will be distributing the statement on the petitions to all their shareholders in accordance with the Corporations Act.

Woolworths will now have to inform their shareholders of the steps they will (or will not) be taking in regards to their poker machine ownership.

Thank you to everyone who signed and returned the petitions. Your actions are making Woolies accountable for theirs.

Woolworths is Australia’s biggest poker machine operator. With 11,000 machines across the country, something is very rotten with the fresh food people.

Poker machines are one of the most addictive forms of gambling. Almost 1 in 20 poker machine users become problem gamblers, and each problem gambler affects, on average, seven other people. Up to 250,000 Australians are hooked on poker machines.

A leading poker machine operator has in effect admitted that 57% of their revenue comes from 15% of pokies players, the people who lose $100 plus per visit.

Woolworths market themselves as a community brand, a household name. The irony is, they’re tearing communities and households apart with their own addiction to poker machine revenue.

Woolworths also run promotions, such as meal deals and free entertainment, to lure families with children into their pokies venues. Once there, children are exposed to the sights and sounds of gambling. This early exposure can make children see gambling, and particularly playing the pokies, as acceptable, everyday activities. This attitude is shown to lead to problem gambling later on.

If you are a shareholder in Woolworths and you would like to see them get rid of their pokies interests, please download the shareholder petition, sign and return it to my office at 212 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000 by 1 October. I will collect the petitions and present them to Woolworths.

Click here to download the shareholder petition »

If you are not a shareholder but believe Woolworths should be pokies-free, you can write a letter or email to Michael Luscombe, the CEO, and post it to Woolworths Head Office, 1 Woolworths Way, Bella Vista NSW 2153 or MLuscombe@woolworths.com.au. Alternatively, you can download this example letter. Please sign and date it, add your name and address, and send it to the address above.

Click here to download the general letter »