Gambling,Resource Distribution,and Racial Economy: An Examination of Poker Machine Expenditure in Three Remote Australian Towns

Our aim in this paper is to examine the ways in which electronic gaming machines (EGMs) redistribute resources to and from three remote towns in the Northern Territory (NT), namely Katherine, Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. We describe EGM expenditure levels in each town at the level of the individual venue, examine patterns of socioeconomic status within each town, explore the ways in which EGM markets are racialised through venue gate‐keeping practices and spatially‐based alcohol regulations, and examine the effects of resource redistribution mechanisms designed to return a proportion of EGM profits to host communities. The ability of venues to draw resources from extremely disadvantaged groups from the remote periphery is of central concern when attempting to assess the societal consequences of gambling in remote towns, both in terms of individual harm and the adequacy of resource redistribution. Existing mechanisms for resource redistribution are both selective and relatively meagre, pointing to a political and racial economy of EGM gambling that transfers resources from remote towns to sites of centralised ‘white’ power. We conclude that political economy in the context of remote NT towns may not be understood outside a consideration of racial economy and the way that constructed notions of race operate to legitimate existing processes of economic exploitation and resource redistribution.     

Vulnerability to Bushfire Risk at Melbourne's Urban Fringe: The Failure of Regulatory Land Use Planning

The 7 February 2009 bushfires in the peri‐urban region to the north of metropolitan Melbourne heralded what many have called an entirely new epoch in terms of weather‐related disasters in Australia. A total of 173 people and 2000 properties were destroyed and, as with the 1939 fires in Victoria, a Royal Commission was subsequently instituted to inquire into the causes and responses to the fire. The Royal Commission has heard much evidence about alleged failings of fire response, communication and administration. It also considered land use planning issues and the associated regulatory framework. Using the Shire of Murrindindi as a case study, this paper argues that the location of population growth, and associated regulatory failure, are contributory, yet under‐researched, factors associated with life and property losses. The adoption of more robust planning tools which incorporate climate change considerations, we argue, is essential to anticipate and minimise the impacts of disastrous natural events such as bushfires. In the latter part of the paper, attention is drawn to a recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision which is groundbreaking in its use of the precautionary principle to prevent dwelling construction in an ‘inappropriate’ location as well as to some major inconsistencies between planning for flood and bushfire threats.     

SMALL STATE BEHAVIOUR: ON THE FORMATION OF A PALESTINIAN STATE IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP

The current Israel-Palestine peace process is expected to result in a final territorial solution and the ultimate formation of a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. By all definitions, such a state would be small in terms of its population size, its areal extent, and its economic capacity. Given existing conditions, a West Bank and Gaza state would suffer from problems of structural scarcity as experienced by many other small states. This would be exacerbated were the boundaries of the new state with Israel to be closed, thus severing existing economic links. Drawing on models of small state behaviour, this paper studies the possible ways in which a West Bank and Gaza state could overcome these structural deficiencies in both the short and long-terms, including full and independent control of the state's resources, investment in industrial and construction infrastructure, and through becoming an important regional and global gateway for the Arab world as a whole. Les pourparlers actuels visant la négotiation ?un traité de paix entre ?Israël et la Palestine mèneront vraisemblablement à une solution territoriale définitive qui sera manifestée par la création ?un état palestinien indépendant. Cet état comprendrait la Rive Gauche et le territoire de Gaza. Par définition, il s'agirait ?un état dont la population, la superficie et les moyens de production seraient modestes. Étant donné les conditions actuelles, le nouvel état comprenant la Rive Gauche et le territoire de Gaza, tout comme les autres états de petite taille, ferait face à des déficiences structure!les. Si la frontière entre le nouvel état et Israël était fermée, ce qui aurait pour effet de rompre les liens économiques actuels, ces déficiences se feraient davantage sentir. Ce travail se propose ?examiner, à?aide de modèles portant sur le fonctionnement des états de petite taille, les stratégies visant à pallier ces déficiences, à court terme comme à long terme. Les stratégies à?étude comprennent: (a) la prise de contrôle totale des ressources du nouvel état par son gouvernement indépendant, (b) ?aménagement ?infrastructures dans les domaines de ?industrie et de la construction par des investissements dans ces domaines et (c) la mise en valeur du nouvel état comme porte ?entrée régionale et globale vers ?ensemble du monde arabe.