http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/bob-baldwin/ Bob Baldwin was appointed the Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Shadow Minister for Tourism in September 2010. He was previously the Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Tourism and Resources from January 2006 to November 2007 as part of the previous Coalition Government. Between 2007 and 2010 Bob was an Opposition spokesperson in the defence portfolio. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kill-the-pokies-and-risk-killing-tourism-too/ As Australian Parliamentarians consider their voting positions on poker machine mandatory pre-commitment technologies, the impact on gambling on society, and a sensible and evidence based approach to fix the downsides to gambling, it’s important to consider what regulating this leisure activity will mean to inbound tourism over the next decade and beyond.   To maintain international competitiveness, many Australian casinos have been actively investing in new tourism infrastructure and upgrading existing properties. The total capital expenditure program across Australian casinos exceeds AU$4.4 billion with impressive upgrades to Crown Melbourne and Burswood in Perth, The Star in Sydney, and SKYCITY in Darwin amongst others. Over the same time, there has been increasing competition from Asia, most notably in the emergence of ‘integrated resorts’ that offer unprecedented opportunities to grow international tourism.  Singapore has overseen the construction of two integrated casino resorts at a combined cost of around AU$12 billion.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Bob Baldwin) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kill-the-pokies-and-risk-killing-tourism-too/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kill-the-pokies-and-risk-killing-tourism-too/#item6857 Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:35:19 +0000 Bob Baldwin | Author bios | The Punch