People whose lives had been damaged by gambling spoke before the Woolworths board in the leadup to the supermarket giant's decision to get rid of its poker machine and liquor businesses, South Coast activist Kate Roberts said.
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The Nowra-based Gambling Impact Society had members of its "Lived Experience Project" speak to the board over the long campaign to convince the retail giant to get out of gambling.
This week Woolies announced it would do just that, a move which was welcomed by Ms Roberts.
"We're very pleased they are getting out of poker machine ownership," she told the Mercury.
"Obviously it still means poker machines will be passed on to another buyer, but it's been a major conflict, in terms of presenting themselves as the fresh food people, and wholesome, and good service for the community - and at the same time obviously raking in billions through the hardship of others.
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"We think that's a much alignment for caring for their customers - and we have been part of the movement to encourage that, including having lived experience members come and talk at their board meetings in the past.
"We are one of the founders of the Alliance for Gambling Reform [which has] been working very hard to get this outcome."
Saying Woolworths was evolving into "a food and every needs ecosystem", CEO Brad Banducci announced Australian Liquor and Hospitality would be sold.
But recent cases where Woolworths-owned premises had been offering incentives for gamblers to stay playing had the company facing heavy penalties, and large shareholder Perpetual had told the Woolies board to get out of pokies.
"I have no doubt that Woolworths received some very significant publicity about some absolutely poor hotels in the last 12 months where there have been some quite devastating [actions] to provide incentives to keep people gambling," Ms Roberts said.
"Hopefully they've taken that on board, because they've certainly been under scrutiny recently with regards to some of those behaviours.
"I think that's another good indication of why ethically, businesses need to take regulations into account, but more importantly, [consider] the morality and ethical stance of a business that's associated with products that are doing our community harm."
The Gambling Impact Society is now looking for people to join its new Lived Experience project, and is seeking people whose lives have been affected by online gambling, which is undergoing an unprecedented boom. Contact info@gisnsw.org.au
Ben Langford
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
