Just a quick update on the ongoing poker machine reform campaign; the past week
has been a busy one and I thought you'd want to know about it.
Last week began with GetUp member, renowned computer engineer, and the first woman and first living person inducted into the Australian ICT hall of fame, Ann Moffatt, speaking out on a Today Tonight segment. Ann revealed for the first time the unbelievable fact that a major poker machine manufacturer, still in business today, employed a team of 10 psychologists to develop pokier machine logic that would be passed on to Ann and her team of programmers to implement. When Ann found out, she terminated her company's relationship with the poker machine client.
If you missed the segment and you want to learn more about one of the reasons we have so many Australians addicted to poker machine gambling, you can watch it here:
Ann's story on Today Tonight reached more than 1.1 million Australian viewers and once again stressed just how dangerous high loss poker machines currently are for our communities. That's why hundreds of GetUp members successfully called for an Extraordinary General Meeting of Woolworths Ltd; at the EGM GetUp members and shareholders will be asking the largest owner and operator of poker machines in Australia to commit to making its machines safer for all Australians.
On a less public-facing side of the campaign, I've just returned from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) conference in Melbourne, where GetUp had an informational stall to brief investors - the people who will either be voting or who represent people who will be voting - on poker machine reform at November's EGM. Our campaign materials and conversations informed key industry players about the important social justice implications and risks that are associated with continued investment in high loss poker machines and let them know about the upcoming opportunity to vote for safer machines at November's EGM.
The majority of investors and advisors I spoke with were very impressed with the campaign to date and that's because of you. Without your support we could not have run ads in cinemas across the country, delivered petitions, sent letters to the CEOs of Woolworths and Wesfarmers, successfully called an EGM or funded the legal fight that ensued. The efforts of our movement have been successful in getting investors to think more about the risk - both to the brand and also to the public - of Woolworths' continued investment in such demonstrably harmful products. Many let me know they will be watching closely as the campaign unfolds.
For that reason, we'll be back in touch soon with some powerful and important ways in which you can use your power as a member of a superfund in order to help bring about poker machine reform.
Thanks for all that you do,
Erin, for the GetUp team.
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Authorised by Sam Mclean, Level 2, 104 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.
Last week began with GetUp member, renowned computer engineer, and the first woman and first living person inducted into the Australian ICT hall of fame, Ann Moffatt, speaking out on a Today Tonight segment. Ann revealed for the first time the unbelievable fact that a major poker machine manufacturer, still in business today, employed a team of 10 psychologists to develop pokier machine logic that would be passed on to Ann and her team of programmers to implement. When Ann found out, she terminated her company's relationship with the poker machine client.
If you missed the segment and you want to learn more about one of the reasons we have so many Australians addicted to poker machine gambling, you can watch it here:
Ann's story on Today Tonight reached more than 1.1 million Australian viewers and once again stressed just how dangerous high loss poker machines currently are for our communities. That's why hundreds of GetUp members successfully called for an Extraordinary General Meeting of Woolworths Ltd; at the EGM GetUp members and shareholders will be asking the largest owner and operator of poker machines in Australia to commit to making its machines safer for all Australians.
On a less public-facing side of the campaign, I've just returned from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) conference in Melbourne, where GetUp had an informational stall to brief investors - the people who will either be voting or who represent people who will be voting - on poker machine reform at November's EGM. Our campaign materials and conversations informed key industry players about the important social justice implications and risks that are associated with continued investment in high loss poker machines and let them know about the upcoming opportunity to vote for safer machines at November's EGM.
The majority of investors and advisors I spoke with were very impressed with the campaign to date and that's because of you. Without your support we could not have run ads in cinemas across the country, delivered petitions, sent letters to the CEOs of Woolworths and Wesfarmers, successfully called an EGM or funded the legal fight that ensued. The efforts of our movement have been successful in getting investors to think more about the risk - both to the brand and also to the public - of Woolworths' continued investment in such demonstrably harmful products. Many let me know they will be watching closely as the campaign unfolds.
For that reason, we'll be back in touch soon with some powerful and important ways in which you can use your power as a member of a superfund in order to help bring about poker machine reform.
Thanks for all that you do,
Erin, for the GetUp team.
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Authorised by Sam Mclean, Level 2, 104 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.
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