Between 2003 and 2006, thousands of criminal offences were committed at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, capital of the Australian state of Victoria.

A recent police report quotes, not only money-laundering and prostitution, but also 445 assaults, two kidnappings, eight sex offences, 32 cases of handling stolen goods, 13 weapons offences and 344 thefts from cars. (The Age, 8/12/2009)

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Meanwhile the rural city of Mildura, 500km north of Melbourne, is widely tipped as a possible site for a second casino in Victoria.

Ross Douglass, chairman of local protest group, Sunraysia Against Casinos, warns Mildura’s Rural City Council, that Victoria’s State government cares nothing about such crime. (Press release, 8/12/2009)

This week, the Victorian Parliament is expected to pass laws allowing Crown Casino to expand its number of table games by 43 percent.

Any town giving a permit for a casino, argues Mr Douglass, is asking for trouble — money-laundering, prostitution, assaults, kidnappings, sex offences, handling of stolen goods and thefts from cars.

If a fool is somebody who refuses to learn from the mistakes of others, what about a town which, instead of learning from what Melbourne has done to itself, inflicts increasing crime on its own neighbourhood where families are trying to live decent lives?

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Meanwhile the Mayor of Mildura, Councillor G. Milne, has told fellow-councillors that they are legally bound to refrain from publicly speaking against the casino proposal. “The law is the law,” he told a local newspaper.

In fact, there is no such law.

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Meanwhile, again, Councillor Milne has not objected when his CEO, paid to be unbiased, has told the local TV that a Casino would fit in perfectly with the city’s “master-plan”.

Money speaks all languages, doesn’t it?