MEDIA RELEASE
NICK
XENOPHON M.L.C.
INDEPENDENT
NO POKIES MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
26 October 2004
CALL
FOR NATIONAL RESPONSE FOLLOWING SENTENCING IN
AUSTRALIA
’S
BIGGEST GAMBLING RELATED CRIME
STATE GOVERNMENTS
ACCUSED AS ACCESSORIES TO GAMBLING CRIME
The
sentence handed down today in
Australia
’s biggest gambling related crime has
prompted calls for a national response to tackle the problem.
Dennis Craig Telford
was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years
and six months for stealing $22 million from his employer K & S Corp –
owned by Mt Gambier businessman Alan Scott – to feed his pathological gambling
addiction to horse and sports betting.
A study published last year by the Australian Institute of Criminology disclosed
that gambling was the second largest motivator for serious fraud offenders –
with the average loss of $218,746.00, and 76% of persons convicted of fraud
motivated by gambling were given full-time custodial sentences.
Mr
Xenophon said:
“When
State Government rake in $4 billion a year from gambling taxes –when they turn
a blind eye to the problem – they are accessories before and after the fact to
gambling related crime. There is no question that the massive increase in gambling related crime
has been fuelled by the States’ greedy grab for gambling taxes.”
“This
is
Australia
’s
biggest gambling related crime - but for every case like this there are
hundreds, if not thousands of other cases where the amounts might be much
smaller, but people’s lives are still destroyed”.
Mr
Xenophon said the
Telford
case was an “urgent
wake-up call for Governments across the country to take the issue seriously.”
He called for a national response to gambling related crime that SA
should lead the way on including:
● A national audit of the extent of
gambling related crime
●
Making the
gambling industry more responsible for ‘suspect’ transactions
●
Providing
comprehensive screening and rehabilitation of those imprisoned for gambling
related crime – to reduce the risk of re- offending
● Provide emergency compensation for victims
(particularly small businesses and individuals of up to $20,000) of such crimes
– to be funded by the States’ multi-billion dollar tax take on gambling
Written
and authorised by Nick Xenophon, 653 Lower North East Road, Paradise, SA 5075