Tim Matheson's employer, McGauran could lose, cigs vs pokies, HTV cards, Werribee video, media battles and bias against small fry

Dear Mayne Report readers,

Greetings for the last time before we go to the polls in this first winter election since 1987.

Our anti-pokies booth workers were sent this backgrounder yesterday with tips on the issues to canvass with voters between 8am and 6pm at schools and churches across Victoria on Saturday.

Thanks to all those volunteers and if anyone fancies joining them to hand out for a couple of hours on Saturday, just email Paula@maynereport.com and we'll get a few hundred of these delivered:



Alternatively, if you fancy printing a few out and distributing them to nearby letter boxes and a few voters at the booth on Saturday, click on this PDF version.

Pokies venues dominate town hall style leaders debates

Australian politicians have steadily imposed the world's toughest anti-smoking regime such that cancer sticks can't be advertised and will soon not even be allowed to have branding on packages. Smokers are ostracised in Australian society. They can't even smoke inside a vast sporting arena like the MCG.

The Labor Party refuses to pocket donations from tobacco companies whilst the Liberals have received more than $1 million over the past decade as you can see on this comprehensive list of gambling and tobacco industry donations over the past few years.

Given all of this, isn't it amazing that Australians are the biggest pokies gamblers in the world and the two leaders forums with questions from the public were both held at giant pokies venues? There would be outrage if such events were hosted in a Cigar bar. I reckon the pokies cause even more societal damage than smoking, yet all forms of gambling are utterly ingrained in mainstream Australia, even though the pokies are responsible for about 85% of all problem gambling cases.

The Rooty Hill RSL has a staggering 800 pokies - the maximum in Victoria outside of Crown Casino is 105 - and last night's Gillard-Abbott grill-fest was held at the Broncos Social Club in Brisbane which has 280 pokies.

Yet despite having a no pokies senator in Nick Xenophon and several anti-pokies independent candidates in this election, I'm still not aware of either Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott being asked once about their failure to embrace the Productivity Commission recommendations to curb the $3 billion-plus a year that problem gamblers lose on the pokies in Australia.

Some of the questions last night on Rudd, gay marriage, refugees, internet filter and broadband were starting to sound like a broken record. We've heard it all before - many times.

Veteran political commentator Alan Ramsey, or the faker running his account, has been right to tweet away about the lack of attention given to Afghanistan during this campaign, but the pokies hasn't been too far behind.

Update on Julian McGauran pokies investigation

Despite trying very hard in the media, it appears that Liberal Senator Julian McGauran will survive the entire 5 week election campaign with his only public engagement about his family's ownership of The Miller's Inn in North Altona being the following brief story in The Age on July 27:

Senator's pub probed

The gaming watchdog will investigate the presence of two teens on the gaming floor of an Altona North hotel part-owned by Liberal Senator Julia McGauran, after a complaint by rival Senate candidate Stephen Mayne.

Mr Mayne, an independent, said that two 15-year old girls in the gaming area at The Millers Inn last week. Senator McGauran is a part-owner of the pub, at which punters lost more than $12 million last financial year.

A spokesman for anti-gambling independent Senator Nick Xenophon, cited as a witness, said the girls were on the gaming floor for 10 minutes. Senator McGauran said it was 2.5 minutes.

There's a bit more to report on this. A call came through earlier in the campaign from Joe Tavlian, the acting managing investigations at the VCGR. He said he was treating the complaint as a "high priority" and had assigned senior inspector Tony Curran to investigate.

The Millers Inn was contacted that day and required to hand over rosters and the CCTV footage from midday until 2pm on Friday, July 23, as part of the investigation.

The witnesses have also been requested to provide written statements so we'll see how it unfolds.

Could Anthony Thow or Steve Fielding defeat Julian McGauran?

Meanwhile, we filmed this video outside the Miller's Inn for the Australian Christian Lobby but they ended up not putting in on their site because it didn't cover their requested areas of marriage, chaplaincy, homelessness and classification standards.

Despite his pokies controversies not getting a big run, there is gathering talk that Senator McGauran could still yet lose given that the Labor vote is holding up well in Victoria.

The Greens are looking very strong and Richard di Natale may even achieve the 14.2% quota in his own right, in which case any surplus would then flow straight to the ALP.

Family First is expected to achieve more than 3% of the Victorian Senate vote courtesy of Steve Fielding's high profile and the party's ability to cover the booths. It will then hoover up preferences from the likes of the CDP, DLP and One Nation but surprisingly missed out on getting Shooters Party preferences.

For Fielding to win, he needs to get ahead of the third Labor candidate Anthony Thow or Senator McGauran, which is an outside possibility. Whilst McGauran is favoured to win the sixth spot, Thow's prospects should not be discounted and we would certainly prefer he wins given his statement to us that the Productivity Commission's recommendation for a $1 maximum bet is a "sensible reform" which, if elected, he would promote in party and Senate forums.

If both Thow and di Natale got up, this would represent a 4-2 Senate victory for the left over the right, a complete reversal of what happened in the Latham landslide of 2004 when Senator Fielding and three Coalition Senators were elected. Meanwhile, listen to the first ever Fielding vs di Natale debate on 774 ABC Melbourne with Jon Faine this morning.

Memories from Hobson's Bay on McGauran's pokies push and 24 hour grog shop

About 6-7 years ago, the Hobsons Bay's Special Planning Committee (a panel of three councillors, rotating through the year) adjudicated on a planning application for extra pokies by The Millers Inn. It was knocked back by council but later supported by VCAT.

Peter McGauran, Julian's brother, was Science Minister at the time and there was some controversy over his support for a ban on internet gambling when acting as Communications Minister. John Howard was forced to make a detailed statement in Parliament after Senator John Faulkner went on the attack over conflict of interest.

In 2006, The Millers Inn came back again and applied for an extension to its liquor licence so they could sell grog 24 hours around the clock - something that happened at only one other venue in Victoria at the time. It also went to Hobsons Bay for approval and councillor Peter Hemphill campaigned aggressively against it.

Officers at the Altona North cop shop across the road from The Millers Inn opposed the 24 hour grog shop proposal but then 3AW's Drive presenter Derryn Hinch intervened and and mauled Hemphill, saying McGauran had put his shareholdings in independent trusts and was at arm's length. Hemphill ended up having the last laugh because the Bracks government then intervened and canned the notion of anyone getting a 24-hour licence. All because the supposedly God-fearing McGauran family wanted to flog grog around the clock in one of Melbourne's poorest suburbs.

I, for one, certainly won't lament the possible demise of Senator McGauran on Saturday and urge conservative voters to look elsewhere to the likes of the DLP and Family First. The anti-pokies movement will get a huge boost if the only pokies operator in the Federal Parliament is thrown out.

Tim Mathieson caught up in fundraising controversy as majors keep donations secret

The Age produced this front page story today on the fact that Julia Gillard attended a fundraiser last Sunday at the Toorak mansion of Albert Dadon - the property developer who pays her partner Tim Mathieson to flog apartments.

Mathieson is tipped to drop his job after the election and so he should, although Albert Dadon was discouraging this with Jon Faine on 774 ABC Melbourne this morning. You really shouldn't have a prominent lobbyist on Australia's foreign policy and a conduit for substantial Labor donations paying undisclosed sums to the PM's de facto partner, even though he is perfectly entitled to have a job.

The Dadon interview with Faine was very interesting and should generate some more coverage tomorrow, because he covered everything from spousal relationships, gender bias, alleged unfair attention on his support for Israel and donations disclosure. Insiders host Barrie Cassidy also weighed in strongly suggesting Tim Mathieson has received far too much attention because he's a bloke. Frankly, I reckon most of the attention has been because of his background and circumstances.

Challenging the majors to disclose donations now

Meanwhile, donations disclosure in Australia remains woeful and Tony Abbott had an awkward minute on Q&A last Monday when he had to justify the Coalition accepting six figure donations from Big Tobacco every year.

Tony Jones didn't take up the opportunity to ask why the Coalition torpedoed John Faulkner's brave reforms to improve disclosure of campaign finance in 2008 so we won't even get a partial picture of who funded this campaign until February 1, 2012.

We're not waiting another 18 months and are happy to publically reveal that we've received about $3000 so far, as follows:

August 16
Marcus: donated $25
Alec: donated $25
Kevin: donated $200

August 9
Maurice: donated $50

August 8
Susan: donated $1000

August 4
Paul: donated $100
Stewart: donated $50
George: donated $1000

August 3
John: donated $50
David: donated $100

July 27
James: $200
Frank: $50

Total: $2725

If the PM is serious about transparency she should reveal just how much her partner's multi-millionaire employer has pumped into her re-election campaign, although Albert Dadon suggested this morning it wasn't much and also claimed to donate to the Liberal Party.

A look back at the campaign

We've hit you with the following updates since announcing our anti-pokies Senate tilt back on July 23:

Selling off the farm, debt, sin donations, ABC Learning, pokies, Cornwall and tweets
August 16, 2010

Debunking Dick Smith, Gillard's fundraiser, donations disclosure challenge, pokies and corporate governance
August 13, 2010

McGauran's pokies venue, religion in politics, aged care, "Julia Gillard room", Slaters EGM and ASIC jail list
August 10, 2010

Gillard slams tobacco donations as Labor pockets $2m from pokies giants
August 4, 2010

DJs, legislate women on boards, ex Lib goes no pokies, preferences, Pratt-Shorten, Labor's debt and AG's report
August 3, 2010

Revealed: McGauran's 15yo gaming customers and how Victorian Labor MPs represent the biggest pokies venues
July 27, 2010

Announced anti-pokies tilt at the Senate
July 23, 2010

Immigration, pokies, Babcock, Sing Inc, Cornwall, female directors, SP Ausnet, Rich List and much more
July 22, 2010

Trying to crack the mainstream media and overcoming systematic barriers

Election campaigns are extremely hard work for independents and minor parties for two main reasons.

Firstly, most of them don't crack the 4% threshhold to qualify for the $2.31 per vote in public funding. In the case of the Victorian Senate, a 4% vote would deliver about $400,000 in public funding. Imagine the campaign you could run with those sorts of dollars!

Whilst you don't want an avalanche of nutters contesting election campaigns, the $1000 deposit and 4% threshhold presents as an unfair barrier to entry to minor players. A fairer reform would be to increase the deposit to $2000, but then lower the public funding threshhold to 1%. A majority of the 23 candidates contesting the Victorian Senate contest won't crack 1% but the better ones could then run a decent campaign confident they would get the same public sector funding that the major parties and the Greens can take to the bank to finance their campaigns before polling day every time.

The second major challenge for small players is the inability to generate media attention. Senator Nick Xenophon is a master of the media game and when he scored that remarkable 20.5% of the vote across South Australia in 2006, it was partly thanks to this extraordinary editorial endorsement in the monopoly Sunday Mail written by now Herald Sun editor-in-chief Phil Gardiner.

I've had a run in all the major papers this campaign, except from the old colleagues at the Herald Sun. This probably reflects the same ban that HWT managing director Peter Blunden has imposed ever since being criticised for being too soft on Jeff Kennett way back in 1999. Blunden also didn't enjoy this recent commentary about his evasive evidence in the Victorian Supreme Court battle with Bruce Guthrie and you suffer the consequences through lack of coverage after criticising media heavyweights.

Because it is so difficult for independent and minor parties to get a decent run in the media, you need to embrace do-it-yourself electronic means, such as all these updates to our 10,000-strong email list.

However, we shouldn't complain because this summary of our media coverage over the past five weeks is pretty good given the circumstances:

Radio

ABC local radio - 10 minute national chat about media bias in the election on August 8, 2010.

RRR The Party Show - Brief interview discussing up coming election on August 8, 2010.

Radio National - contributed to story on Fran Kelly's breakfast program about the pokies on August 5, 2010.

2GB Sydney - crazy sacked Liberal candidate David Barker claimed my endorsement for his anti-pokies platform. Went on air to rebut and denounce this anti-Muslim racist on August 1, 2010.

ABC regional - talking pokies and the senate tilt on July 27, 2010.

774 ABC Melbourne - interview with Jon Faine discussing anti-pokies, pro-immigration Senate tilt, July 23, 2010.

ABC News Radio - interview with Steve Chase talking about anti-pokies tilt, July 23, 2010.

3AW Melbourne - discussing Graeme Samuel and the collapse of DFO.
August 17, 2010

Read some transcripts of the interviews about the anti-pokies platform.

Press and online

Pokies billionaire shafts Gillard's Doggies for Blues
Crikey, 6 August 2010

Pokies giant pulls games for children
The Age July 27, 2010

Pokies link to jump in crime
The Age July 27, 2010

Geelong's pokie cash cows: we waste $300,000 a day
The Geelong Advertiser, Carl Dickens, July 31, 2010

Bingo draw for Vic Senate seats
SMH, Jeff Turnbull, July 30, 2010



ABC News24, Wed Jul 28, 2010


The Age, July 27, 2010

Coalition lacks a telecommunications policy
The Australian, John Durie, July 23, 2010

Crikey founder runs on anti-pokie ticket
ABC News online, July 23, 2010

Mayne to stand as no-pokies candidate
SMH, AAP, July 23, 2010

Stephen Mayne to run in federal election
Manningham Leader, Danielle Crowe, July 23, 2010.

Mayne sets up a pokies policy preference auction
Crikey, July 23, 2010

Werribee Plaza Tavern video

Today we've got a new video on the pokies, shot out the front of the most lucrative non-casino gambling venue in Victoria, the Woolworths-Mathieson run Werribee Plaza Tavern in Julia Gillard's electorate of Lalor.




Donate to help fund our Senate campaign

We've been really fortunate to receive almost $3000 worth of donations for the Senate campaign so far and anyone else who cares to contribute to the fight against the pokies can simply click on the image below:




Elsewhere, check out this package of our past pokies coverage and this playlist of pokies related videos, including the time we "kidnapped" Nick Xenophon during the 2007 federal election campaign.

Also, check out this 30 second anti-pokies ad made by Paul Bendat last year featuring our daughter Alice, who was 6 at the time.



Sign up for campaign and governance Tweets



Click on the image above to join more than 2000 followers on Twitter. We are regularly dropping out observations from the federal election campaign and on corporate governance developments and here are some of the more recent Tweets:

6.08pm August 18: Watch this video shot out the front of biggest pokies joint in Victoria in Gillard's electorate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBoV3WkHO5s

6.08pm August 17: Lively discussion with Derryn Hinch on 3AW Drive about Graeme Samuel & DFO collapse. Listen here: http://tiny.cc/ul8in

4.19pm August 17: @CUhlmann Are leaders worried by huge foreign ownership with AWB latest. See: http://bit.ly/c6sHYp

3.23pm August 17: Check out Crikey story today on Graeme Samuel's financial crisis & conflicts of interest. He should stand down: http://www.maynereport.com/

11.13am August 17: Scandalous that UBS and MacBank are gouging $11.5m in fees from teetering Photon Group's capital raising. Where is shareholder protection?

10.07am August 17: Cracking McCrann column today on capital raising rorts after ISS report. See: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/terry-mccranns-column

9.17am August 17: Graeme Samuel's $50m loss from DFO amazing. He should have listened to conflict of interest advice in 2006. See: http://www.maynereport.com/

10.40pm August 16: We've got the lowest smoking rate in the world. Bigger problem is gambling as we are world's biggest punters thanks to the pokies #qanda

10.10pm August 16: As a religious man, is Tony Abbott okay about Australians being the biggest gamblers on earth and what's he doing about the pokies? #qanda