500,000 Online Votes Wanted to Remove Pokies from Pubs and Clubs

The Duty of Care initiative described as a “non-government referendum” appeals to Australian voters to be part of a Legislative Assembly petition with their authentic no-pokies vote. The website proposal is for the introduction of a new law to make gaming machines illegal in all hotels and clubs in Australia, and is seeking the vote of everyone in Australia with an opinion on the issue.

Sydney, Australia (PRWEB) August 15, 2006 -- www.askthepeople.com.au is open for votes for a period of 4 weeks (15 August 2006 to 15 September 2006) at which time the results will be presented to Parliament in the form of a Legislative Petition.

Duty of Care encourages votes from people affected by gaming machines, families and citizens, and urges them to vote just as they would if they were voting on an important issue in a referendum or for their preferred political party in a state or federal election.

Duty of Care President, Lana O’Shanassy said “500,000 is the target because that is the estimated number of problem gamblers in Australia at present, but we hope to see votes from all community members, regardless of the final result.”

“Our experience tells us that without the votes, nothing will be done about the harm caused by gaming machines. We want our politicians to see without a doubt what the preference of Australians is in regard to gaming machines in our communities.”

# # #