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4 MAY, 2022
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Shop by twilight
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Seaworks will be hosting twilight markets over the next coming months, showcasing a host of local businesses against a beautiful night time backdrop of Melbourne’s CBD. The markets, supported by Hobsons Bay council’s ‘Make It Happen – Hobsons Bay Recovery and Reconnection Grant’, will be starting in mid-May and will run until the end of June. Stall holders will be able to show off their goods and services in Seaworks’ Big Shed, with food vans, a coffee cart and entertainment available for the public to enjoy. Seaworks executive officer Glenn Jones said: “The aim is to add some colour and moment to Williamstown and Melbourne’s west during the winter months and while supporting local business. “It’s gearing up to be a fun night out for the whole family.” Each market will run from 6pm to 9pm, with the first market on Friday, May 13, followed by May 27, June 10 and June 24. Stallholders Joanne Natoli, Lauren Vardy, Rebecca Blums and Stephanie Lemmon will be showcasing their products at Seaworks Twilight Markets.
Pokies spend on the rise By Molly Magennis
12533599-HC07-22
The amount of money spent on the pokier machines in Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay continues to rise, new data reveals. According to data from the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission, $5.9 million was spent on electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in Maribyrnong in March, an increase of more than $800,000 from the previous month. The data reveals that Maribyrnong gamblers spent the most at Yarraville Cricket Club in the first nine months of 2021-22, with $3.6 million spent at the venue’s 76 EGMs.
Hobsons Bay’s gambling figures also rose in March, although not as substantially as the numbers in Maribyrnong. An increase of $570,000 was recorded, with $4.1 million spent in March compared to $3.5 million the month prior. Millers Inn Hotel in Altona North has so far recorded the biggest expenditure during the 2021-22 financial year, with $3.2 million spent at the pokies at the venue. In February, Maribyrnong mayor Anthony Tran described the city’s spending on EGM’s as “alarming”. “While we may think gambling is an issue that only affects some people, the truth is
the impacts go beyond individuals to their families, friends, employers, workmates, businesses and the community generally,” he said. Monash University’s head of gambling and social determinants unit, associate professor, Charles Livingstone said EGM spending has been increasing for some time in Victoria, and that this increase can be attributed to social and economic stress. “Many people are experiencing considerable stress at the moment, with insecure work, declining real wages, and intermittent COVID spikes, etcetera,” he said. “Pokies are also distributed very
disproportionately in disadvantaged communities, which are experiencing the worst of these stresses, so increased spending is understandable, if worrying.” He said an improved harm minimisation and prevention system is needed to support those within the community who struggle with gambling addiction. “Existing counselling services do a good job but they don’t stop people getting into trouble. We need a regulator that is better resourced, has more power, and is politically supported, and we need to implement interventions ... that will stop people getting into serious trouble.”
Kenyon-Smith Denture Clinic A family tradition for 60 years 100 Pier Street, Altona 9315 9231 • 27 Old Geelong Road, Hoppers Crossing 9748 8204
Dental Prosthetists Full dentures, Partial dentures, Repairs - relines • Victorian Denture Scheme • Veterans’ Affairs John, Andrew, Simon and Paul Kenyon-Smith