While making outwardly calm and confident noises, the power-mongers behind the notion of a casino in Mildura are in panic mode.

Local entrepreneur, Don Carrazza, seems to be top man orchestrating a push to get the local big money behind the venture.

He, or someone associated with him, has rounded up numerous local businessmen and is grooming them for a campaign of pressurisation/intimidation against local MP, Peter Crisp.

Not blackmail, you understand.

Two evenings ago they had a meeting.

It was educational to observe a Who’s Who of local big shots — from the Council, the Real Estate Industry and assorted well-heeled friends — all toddling along obediently, looking a bit rueful as they slid through the door to present themselves as directed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mr Crisp seems uncertain whether a casino — with its inevitable train of increased drug crimes, suicides, embezzlements, money-laundering and prostitution — is such a good thing to for him to back.

Mr Crisp isn’t necessarily the kind of person to confront them and say that casinos are hotbeds of exploitation of the weak which he will, on principle, always oppose.

Pity.

* * *

Business interests in the pro-casino movement are using the local media to regurgitate how the proposed casino will contain a “$400 million entertainment complex and conference centre” etc.

Will it?

What if the casino bit gets built and the rest of the alleged extravaganza never happens — and all Mildura winds up with is another row of poker machines and a few hundred more mentally and financially destroyed problem gamblers?

Will our neighbourhood tycoons be very sorry?

Or will they be more realistic about it?

After all, they might say,  you can’t make omelettes without breaking a few eggs.

* * *

The cosh with which they threaten to thump Mr Crisp is the threat of running a pro-casino “independent” candidate against him at the forthcoming November State election.

The local media would be asked to help with a bit of biased reporting, and Bingo! Mr Crisp would bite the dust.

But all of that might yet fall a bit flat.

There is also an anti-casino group in Mildura.

They have a website: www.sacinc.com.au