Gambling Advertisers on Our House

A friend posted a question on Facebook about our réponses to the SOH debacle...
This is my comment:

1. OPERA: As a former opera-singer... Although opera costs a lot to put on, opera is not-for-profit. It depends on philanthropy and generosity. In most countries where it happens it is heavily subsidized by Govt so it can be accessible to everyday people... why? Because great opera lifts the soul. Great art challenges thinking, tells eternal stories, plays between myth, mystery and existentialism. Opera inspires World Cups and brings down governments. Opera is frivolous and fun and offers the dramatic emotional reality of genocides and betrayals. Grand Opera is an investment in creative genius in our community.

2. PLACE: In the SOH, Sydney has a place that reflects and enhances the most beautiful harbour in the world. It is not glitzy. It is not a passing fad. It is architectural landscape of the highest order. It states that on this beautiful place - a place where we also remember hardship, confrontation and dispossession, here is a place where a city can work on its soul. Here is a ‘sacred place’ where communities encounter one another through the mutual respect built by sharing song, dance, literature, drama. It is a place of encounter and engagement... it is where you take the date you want to impress. It is where you take your overseas visitors. It is a place where I take Terry in his wheelchair, to receive soul food.

3. GAMBLING: The Opera House Lottery was not cheap. A ticket was the birthday gift you gave in our family because it was a choice of going to the movies or investing in the future of live theatre. We never bought a ticket expecting to win. We bought them to build our House.
In our extended family, we have seen destruction and death, failed marriage and abuse within the home as a result of gambling addiction. It is evil. This doesn’t mean I dont appreciate sports. It means I hate what the unbridled (pun intended) corrupting influence of what this industry has done.

4. HORSES: One of the most wonderful things Terry and I did was to go to the Sydney Olympic Equestrian events. At the 3-day event we saw horses (and riders) pushed to their limits. They certainly took risks in sport. They were the supreme athletes. Horse-racing misses and distracts from the nobility of horses fulfilling their physical potential - why - because (overall) the industry invests a mere pittance into the wellbeing of the animals. The money changes everything. It is about making profit at the expense of animals and punters. Is about reaching the economic top by trampling others. It is about greed. I dont want to place greed on Our Opera House.

4. CORRUPTION: When T and I went to see the symphony recently, we were also treated to aboriginal artwork on the sails... part of the ongoing exhibition post-vivid. Projections like this creatively use the sails for creative engagement - for us, it was a form of blessing. To remember and acknowledge whose place this is. The projection of gambling advertising reminds us only that power and greed corrupt our community, leading to great suffering.
I work for Parramatta Mission - we deal with homelessness, gambling addiction and substance abuse. We dont ask you to advertise the solutions on the Sails of Our House, but please dont create more problems for us!