Introduction by Christopher Kevin Au // Words by Rowan Dix // Head image by Cole Bennetts

Australia has a serious pokies problem.

While Australia constitutes for only 0.3% of the global population, we are home to a staggering 20% of pokies machines which are omnipresent in pubs, clubs and venues across the country. Moreover, it’s estimated that 300,000 Australians are suffering from an addiction to pokies, with younger demographics living in disadvantaged regions suffering the most. Combine this with the rapid erosion of cultural hubs and live music – particularly in Sydney – and things aren’t looking so dandy.

Proudly Pokies Free is a campaign which looks to address these issues and stop the nationwide epidemic. They’ll be launching the campaign with a show at one of Sydney’s premier venues, Oxford Art Factory with a mixed bill that includes Tim Freedman of The Whitlams, Wild Honey, Left, Bad Deep DJs and some very special surprise guests. It’s going down on Sunday October 23, with tickets available right here.

Also performing on the night is none other than local favourite Joyride. An accomplished solo artist who’s also a member of One Day and The Meeting Tree, Joyride has earned a reputation for his angelic pipes, his reflective gold tracksuit pants and also for being one of the city’s hottest content creators. Ahead of the Proudly Pokies Free event, we gave Joyride full reign over his own article, and he’s come back with this anecdotal prediction of Sydney City’s future. We’re passing the keyboard onto Joyride now – read what he had to say below:

The year is 2026. Creatives in Sydney have, for the most part, relocated to greener pastures. Berlin, New York, Geelong, all now filled with aging brightspark millenials. Only five remained in the harbour city. This is their story.

Tim sat at the head of the table in an office at the end of the hall. A neon sign reading ‘Studio 6’ hung above the door. The Studio 6 team gathered around their leader, anxious to hear about their new assignment.

“The news has come down from on high, people,” Tim announced. “In the past ten years, we’ve seen the number of poker machine licenses triple in Sydney, and our output hasn’t been matching it. The people are growing tired of King Of The Nile. More Chilli is getting record low plays. We need to spice things up.”

Ellie, an illustrator from Newtown who’s son had just started high school, had a spark. “What if we do a pokie based on pokies? Play the brand new pokie pokie! It’d be something directly aimed at seasoned gamers because of their familiarity with the machines.”

Tim wrote it up on the whiteboard but didn’t look convinced. “What else do we have?”

Jacques, a former DJ and producer from Rose Bay, chimed in. “Just snowballing off the back of Ellie, but what about the Hokey Pokie? A machine based around children’s songs and stories? It’d be a good way to connect with young people early.”

On the whiteboard it went.

Wendy, their cultural advisor, raised her hand. “Something that leans harder toward the oriental ideas of luck may be the way forward. Did you know that the Chinese pronunciation of “fish” and “surplus” are the same? What if we do a fish theme?”

“Not bad, Wendy.” Tim scribbled “fish/surplus” on the board and pointed his texta at Cliff, the big ideas man.

Cliff looked at his notes then looked around the table, searching for some kind of pre-approval for what he was about to say.

“I think we need to shamelessly attack our main income source. We need to stop beating around the bush.”

Tim was intrigued. “Go on,” he said, cautiously.

“Well,” Cliff stood up, “we’ve been keeping an eye on the demographics that invest the most in our machines, yes? Why don’t we target them more vigorously? Now that we have the lion’s share of entertainment spend in Sydney, it seems only right that we take advantage of that and go for the jugular. I’m talking about a new line of machines specifically designed to be attractive to low income earners.”

Ellie was excited by this. “Maybe we could team up with some rugby league teams?!”

Jacques followed suit. “What about Tim The Tradie? The feature could be called Tools Down.”

Wendy spoke up too. “A machine that targets refugees! OFFSHORE!”

The excited babble in the room went on for an hour. Tim wrote all their ideas on the whiteboard. At the end of the session, they looked up at their masterpiece: 12 ideas for different machines, all aimed at being more attractive to people who struggle to make ends meet.

They had done their job very well that day, and all got an early mark.

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