20 June 2007

Loan shark net must be made of sterner stuff - Greens

Further disturbing allegations about loan sharks operating within casinos have shown the need for a much stronger net than the Government's new so-called 'get tough' crack-down.

"What is needed is a full and public enquiry, where victims of these sharks are able to provide their evidence anonymously," Green Party Spokesperson on Gambling Issues Sue Bradford says.

"These people and their families are at very real risk of harm if they speak out."

"I have today heard reports of young women being forced by loan sharks to work in their brothels in order to work off their debts.

"I have also been told about young students being recruited as agents for loan sharks, or even being forced to commit serious crimes, some even suggested by these money lenders, to raise money for their gambling debts.

"Some of these people have found themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and too frightened to seek help for fear of reprisals against themselves or their families.

"So-called tough Government rules requiring small lenders to be registered, be a member of an approved professional body and a part of an approved dispute resolution scheme, will do very little to stop these loan sharks preying on vulnerable victims.

"If, as has been reported, these loan sharks are embedded in casinos, being fed a healthy diet of new customers, then this must be properly scrutinized.

"What is needed is a thorough, public investigation that sheds light on this dangerous under world, not the meek new rules promoted by the Government," Ms Bradford says.

ENDS

Note: Ms Bradford will ask a question in the House about this issue soon after 2pm today