THERE'S two things Australians care about above all.
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Time and money.
It's true. I'd bet my house on it.
A task is measured by how long it takes.
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Hard work is one of those intangible concepts which resides in the cockles of Australian culture's heart.
Right there next to mateship and getting a fair go from your friendly ScoMo, whatever that means. Overtime is worn as a badge of honour and anniversaries are the touchstones which give value to every instance of heartache, misery, elation and ecstasy.
Equally, we ask how much does it cost or how much will I get.
Questions which proved absolutely critical in the federal election.
We hold money dear, we work ourselves into the ground where we endlessly mine for those precious pieces of gold to the point where we completely deplete ourselves of the only other resource we revere: time.
Ironically, before long, we're crying poor, time poor.
What a god-awful phrase, if only there were some alms for the impoverished time-poor.
Recent stats revealed Tamworth's pokie machine turned-over a $32 million profit in 2018.
Each machine made more profit than someone on minimum wage would make in a year.
It's an eye-watering amount of money even for the tireless time poor among us.
In less than two years, those profits could fully fund the upgrade of Gunnedah hospital.
While the figures are illuminating in one sense, there is still some mystery shrouding our punting penchant.
The amount of time people have spent at a pub or club eyes screen-ward with their backs to the rest of the community; time away from friends and family chasing an effortless win.
Gambling is a choice and if you've spent your time toiling for a hard-earned dollar, you entitled to spend it as you wish.
But with more people than ever are living below that fabled time-poverty line, perhaps it's time we spent more on each other.