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Australian Gambling Regulators Party on Taxpayer Dollars
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA --
The Roman poet Juvenal would probaly nod his head sagely if he were alive to hear of the government scandals involving Australian gaming and casino watchdogs. Apparently officials from the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation feel they must go undercover as high rollers to perform their duties.
Documents uncovered by Western Australia Today show that commission members spent a quarter-million dollars on overseas trips in 2006. Considering the organization's task is to monitor gambling in the Australian state of Victoria, it wouldn't seem necessary to leave Melbourne.
Countries visited by commission members include the US, China, Italy, Thailand, Canada, Spain, Norway, and Greece. One regulator spent thousands attending a conference in Las Vegas on gambling addiction, including a bill for $416 a night at the Monte Carlo Casino and Hotel.
A call to the Monte Carlo finds the room rented was most likely a Diamond Suite, the most spacious and luxurious of all rooms offered by the Monte Carlo.
But Peter Cohen, head of the commission, says, " Every one of these trips that we undertake adds value to the state by making sure we can regulate the gaming industry properly." Cohen himself has been a regular on these highly irregular trips to paradise.
Cohen tried to explain by saying the trips helped the commission stay abreast of industry developments, something many less fortunate industry workers do on the Internet.
Opposition spokesman Michael O'Brien said, "The public needs to be confident that regulators are using money wisely and not indulging themselves at taxpayers' expense."
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