Dear petition supporter,

We are pleased to let you know that Gateway Health and Upper Murray Family Care have now lodged a joint submission to the VGCCC opposing the Huon Hill electronic gaming machine (pokies) application.

This builds on the incredible support from our 386 petition supporters, many of whom shared powerful personal comments. Here are just a few of the voices that are now part of the submission:

“Coming from a family of gamblers, the last thing I want to see is more of these awful things in town. It’s bad enough that we lose the amount of money we do on the border to these machines, but we also have to deal with the social harm caused by them.” (Wodonga)

“It is not worth the damage it causes families.” (Albury)

“It is devastating and causing financial hardship in our community. I say BIG NO.” (Wodonga)

“Pokies might be good for Huon Hill’s business and the gambling industry but it serves no benefit for the Wodonga community, to the contrary it will more likely have a deleterious effect on Wodonga’s already frail social fabric.” (Wodonga)

“I oppose the introduction of 70 new pokies because they ruin lives, fuel addiction, and take hard earned money from families and our community. Pokies cause hardship and financial stress. We deserve better.” (Chiltern)

Your voices, your petition signing, and your stories have strengthened the case against this application.

A huge thank you again to everyone who has supported this campaign. The next step is the VGCCC hearing in October, where our joint submission and the voices of the wider community will be heard.

We will keep you updated as we begin to hear outcomes from the scheduled hearing.

Regards,

The Gateway Health and Upper Murray Family Care teams