Not true, Maryborough Highland Society

By Andrew McKenna

There is one outright lie in the Maryborough Highland Society’s (MHS) application to the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation (VCGR) to open a new gambling venue in Castlemaine. It is in former General Manager Don Hester’s witness statement.

He is understandably upset at what he sees as the “inaccuracy of their assertions” – ie, the inaccuracy of assertions made by Castlemaine Independent, EPIC (Enough Pokies in Castlemaine) and Chris Hosking, who has been a vocal opponent of the MHS proposal.

He states: “The distortions propagated by the anti-gambling campaigners in a sustained manner have influenced public perception and stymied any sensible debate about the benefits and detriments of the proposal within the Castlemaine community.”

Polarised

This debate was always going to be polarised. CI has stated that we will not report both sides of this issue as if it were a football match, as if both sides were even. He said, she said. There is too much at stake in our community.

There is too much evidence that gambling is a noxious, toxic industry that destroys lives and damages communities.

CI decided to go with the weight of evidence.

The MHS believe Castlemaine Independent and others have been promoting distortions and demonising and defaming Mr Hester.

Castlemaine Independent believes the gambling lobby chooses its figures selectively (listen to Mr Hester’s interview, where he says as much) and promotes untruths.

You can argue statistics until you are blue in the face. However, Mr Hester has given a deliberately dishonest account  to the VCGR about contact between the MHS and Castlemaine Independent, and others.

In his statement to the VCGR, he says; “I advised Mr Hosking, the EPIC group and the Castlemaine Independent of the inaccuracy of their assertions on many occasions, but they continued to publish and to restate these misrepresentations after they were advised of their incorrectness.”

Don Hester, former General Manager of the MHS. Pic: Matt Wobbly.

This never happened. It is Mr Hester’s fantasy.

Neither Mr Hester nor anyone from the MHS contacted Castlemaine Independent, EPIC or Chris Hosking to advise us of anything.

Not on “many occasions”.
Not three times, not twice.
Not even once.

Not in a house. Not in a box.
Not with a mouse. Not with a fox. (thanks Dr Seuss)

If Mr Hester had contacted us, we would have examined our assertions. We would have identified sources where we took our material, we would have owned up to any fair comment or opinion, and if we had demonised Mr Hester or anyone from the MHS, or inadvertently said anything blatantly untrue, we would have apologised and retracted the statement immediately. That was the case with a story about Chris Meddows-Taylor, the Goldfields Shire Mayor and MHS supporter. Read that story.

Castlemaine Independent is not interested in making personal attacks on people or demonising any individual from the gambling lobby. We believe their actions speak for themselves.

The evidence points to the gambling industry being noxious and toxic.

We would be happy for Mr Hester to apologise to Castlemaine Independent and the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation for lying.

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