Tourism and its matters of interest.
Do you as a citizen of Melbourne think that by building a casino will attract
more
tourists than the present numbers?
My opinion is “no” Take for instance a letter written to The Age on Tuesday 25th September 1979 where one of the members of the Uniting Church pointed out that in the first year of operation in Hobart the growth of tourism was 22.1% whilst in 1978 only 5.8% came from overseas with 1.2%Aystralians.
Do you see the contrast between the first year in 1978 where the number of tourists is back to pre casino figures that certainty is not sure what it will be like if it were in Melbourne.
After all what has Melbourne got to offer the tourists whether they are from overseas, intrastate, or interstate tourists and whether they will have better promotions offering the tourists better prizes in their winnings.
Hobart has a beautiful harbor with Mt Wellington, which is a stones throw from Hobart and rises 3000 feet.
At the top of Mt Wellington you have the beaut scenery of Hobart, the Derwent River, the neighbouring mountains and possibly Port Arthur, which is approximately 2 ½ hours away from Hobart, which has a lot of interesting buildings and replicas to show the tourist, of what Port Arthur was like 250 years ago as a gaol.
The facilities at Port Arthur have been improved by the National Trust and are attracting more tourists as the years go by.
Another beauty Hobart offers is for sea racing events like the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, which seems to attract a large contingent each year, with a few owners from overseas.
A few days after the Melbourne to Hobart begins and goes down the West Coast of Tasmania and then to Hobart. With the two yacht races ending it certainly increases the number of tourists visiting Hobart, which show the importance of providing more incentives to attract more tourists, which will earn more money likewise.
Apart from the previous offerings Hobart has for the tourist, the final one is the Casino, which as was pointed out above has gone back to the previous casino figures.
Melbourne on the other hand is a big city and has her own landmarks, but do any of them appeal to the tourists except maybe the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup Carnivals.
The Dandenong’s are too far out and if a tourist has to rent a car it is becoming more expensive now; whereas if the tourist wants to go to the Dandenong’s on a Saturday to ask Pioneer if they have a bus going, if the answer is ‘no’ then ask AAT the same question and if getting the same answer then it is obvious that there is no provision to go there.
Melbourne was regarded as a dull city even with a casino it wouldn’t make nightlife any better than it is today.
Of course the casino wouldn’t make things any better for Melburnians, whereas for Federal Pacific, Hamer and the
Government it would be the hotel group making a big profit for the first two years; and from profit amount of dollars would go to the coffers.
What would Hamer spend the money on first – of course he’d say it was for the hospitals or some other purpose? Is that right? No, why?
The reason being that the HANDICAPPED, ELDERLY AND UNDERPRIVILEGED should be considered first, after all they are human beings; whereas what Hamer gets from Federal Pacific is just another piece of paper which as you are aware is becoming less valuable now than it has been for a long time that is proven by the sale of gold. That is going on day and night.
Poker machines and casinos cause a lot of problems to low-income families, as has been proven over the years.
One example is when a worker got his pay packet, he went to try his luck on poker machines, he won after four tries which when he spent it all he went home.
He was advised to be more positive to himself by putting his life more importantly than MONEY; as MONEY is the root of evil, which creates many problems we are facing constantly.
The questionthat arises is what did the loser have to offer his wife when he had spent all his weeks payment, so where would they go now for their weekly needs from the supermarket and other shops.
To save on expenses it become apparent that they turned to take away foods, which are not good for children, after all farinaceous foods are unhealthy to have except once in a while and they can fatten you.
In other words casinos can benefit all sectors of the business world, which will also benefit the government in many instances.
There was supposed to have been a referendum to the people of Victoria some years ago; the Hamer government thinks everyone has forgotten.
well that’s not true as we still remember those occurrences, which will never be forgotten for a long time to come.
The people of Victoria should decide for themselves rather than the government doing what they like, when they like.
Lately Canberra has come into the picture, where Federal Pacific are thinking of building a casino and convention centre worth over $100 million dollars if they don’t go ahead with the project in Melbourne.