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9 January 2008
Russell Crowe campaigns against slot machines
Russell Crowe recently removed all the slot machines from the rugby club he owns in Sydney, in the first step of his crusade against gambling in Australia.
Pokies, as gambling machines are known in Oz, rake in a handsome $10 billion Australian dollars a year, but many people have fallen victim to addiction. Some 300,000 Australians are addicted to gambling, with pokies representing the biggest problem.
Pubs, clubs and sporting venues are full of video poker machines, which form an integral part of the Australian culture. There are an estimated 200,000 machines across the country, 20% of the total worldwide.
Since they permeate pub culture, many people who would not usually enter casinos, are drawn to them.
Oscar-winning Crowe decided that he wanted his South Sydney rugby league club to be more family-friendly. He has set up a web page on Facebook as part of his campaign against slot machines, A club with no pokies. The club will lose a substantial portion of their income with the loss of the pokies, and will try to get new members to make up for the shortfall.
Until now, the government has been reluctant to ban slot machines since they make millions in tax from the games. However, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agrees that it is time to find an alternative source of income.
This is not the first controversial move that former Gladiator star Crowe has made at the football club. He recently withdrew the cheerleading squad, to be replaced by a drumming band, after his wifes comments that the scantily-clad girls made her uncomfortable, and has given the players a snazzy new look off the field.
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