Change We Don’t Need
When I think about the annual new year moment, the words that come to mind are “potential for change”. There is so much potential around at this time of year; so many hopes and dreams and opportunities. So many moments lie ahead and there is always something in the air that encourages us to consider change, to make changes, to change something.
Of course, change in itself is not bad. God expects us to change - to grow in Christ, to become more like Jesus, to walk worthy of our calling. While our progress might be slow sometimes, God works in us to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purposes (Phil 2:13). I wonder if you have plans for how you might change to be more like Jesus in 2026?
Some change is bad though and some change is change we don’t need. Now there are a lot of things I could address right now but the one change I want to draw to your attention and that I want to invite you to oppose, is the introduction of poker machines to St Ives Village Shopping Centre.
Let me give you the short version of the story.
In April 2025, Iris Capital bought the Village. They have done a whole lot of work on what could be and have set up a collection of beautiful masterplan pictures near Mrs Jones the Baker. One of the common community requests they have responded to is to brighten the nightlife of St Ives so they have proposed building cinemas and a tavern near where the Liquorland drive through currently is. This is the change people often call for, but it comes with a cruel sting in the tail.
Part of the proposal is for a 200sqm gambling room where poker machines will be installed.
Now here is where it all gets a little funky. Iris Capital is seeking to buy and close several of the roads between Tenka Sushi and Star Carwash. In some sense, so what? Roads need to change to facilitate development right? Well, the SMH reported on the weekend that Iris has said to Council that they will only go ahead with the Tavern project, and the gambling den, if they can get the roads.
So this is weird but opposing the sale of the roads may be the only way to oppose the introduction of pokies into the Village.
What’s so bad about the pokies?
They strip billions of dollars out of the hands of NSW most vulnerable people every year. My friend Sandy Grant has been campaigning against pokies for more than 15 years and while he rightly recognises secular freedoms, he says that just like we have made airbags mandatory in cars for safety, we need airbags on pokies. Every hour $1,100,000 leaves households in NSW. You did not read that wrong.
Sandy has been advocating for some simple changes that would protect the most vulnerable - for example, universal cashless gambling cards with mandatory loss limits and switching off machines at midnight. What would be even better is less machines. Of all the poker machines in pubs and clubs worldwide, 75% are in Australia, and 35% are in NSW. The problem is not a few mates putting $10 in while having a few drinks. The problem is when one of those mates who is vulnerable to addiction goes back again and again, having withdrawn cash from a credit card, hoping to win back what they lost when they put their paycheck in the machine last night. It is avoidable but successive NSW governments have done little to bring real change because they drink deeply from gambling tax revenue.
So, I am going to do what I can to oppose the introduction of more pokies in St Ives, even if it means opposing the sale and closure of some roads, and I invite you to consider doing the same. I don’t know for sure but I believe there will be several chances to voice opposition to the pokies but this is the first, and slightly unusual, one.
We all need to change, but there is some change we don’t need and in my view, this is one of the ones we don’t need.
Information on what is happening and how to respond can be found in these links.
Information on what is proposed for St Ives Shopping Village
Information on the road closure and how to respond
