All bets off in Rundle Mall

The Advertiser: All bets off in Rundle Mall :

"'The Melbourne Cup enjoys an iconic status on the racing calendar and people love to have a flutter on that day,' Mr Houston said. 'Now Adelaide City Council has decided they don't want it to have a presence in the mall.' Last year saw South Australians bet a record $7.1 million on the Melbourne Cup, the SA TAB's biggest day of the year. Thoroughbred Racing SA said it could see no reason for the change, its chief executive Ian Hart calling the move 'curious.'"

This is nonsense! It really doesn't amke sense. The Melbourne Cup stops the whole bloomin' nation. The whole of Australia is affected by Melbourne Cup fever. Infact, it should be a national holiday because all sorts of venues and chefs really pull the stops out for the Melbourne Cup Day lunch and is is very festive. It is so annoying to see all those beautiful lunches organised and know you will be working. The Melbounre Cup is about our spirit and the betting is well harnessed. The cup sweeps are everywhere and at work we run them too. It's not about betting so much as cup fever and a real sense of the nation hauling together. National kick up your heels day. I fully support the concern about the poker machines and the increase in them and the misery of addiction to pokies. They are not a social event. The Cup is. It pulls people together and people connect with one another really strongly on cup day. Pokies are isolating and anti social. Even my Mum , when she was alive, used to organise a Melbourne Cup lunch with her lady friends and the husbands would go off and put a modest bet on for them all. It was a tradition. A firends and family thing. Adelaide Council--- you have not made any sense at all....ESPECIALLY when you do not take the poker machines out. SA needs to get its priorities right.