Melton Approves AFL Side Essendon's 29-Year Lease Extension

Melton City Council voted unanimously on Monday to approve a 29-year lease extension allowing Australian Football League side Essendon to continue operating Melton Country Club and its 89 poker machines until the end of '47, according to Paul Sakkal of THE AGE. The lease for the venue, at which gamblers lost A$5.7M in '17-18, was due to expire in '22. The decision was "slammed" by gambling reform advocate Tim Costello, who was critical of the Melton Country Club's support for the lease extension. The Melton Country Club's submission to council stated a "failure to renew the lease would put in jeopardy its ability to conduct activities in the premises," having a "most detrimental" effect on the branch. Costello said, "Essendon knows you do not enrich a football club on the back of personal misery and broken lives, which is why other AFL clubs have decided to get out of pokies" (THE AGE, 12/11).