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News.com.au
31 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Young couple's big win in Clyde North
Ashleigh and Matt Otten bought and built in Clyde North, drawn by its peaceful, family-friendly feel and the promise of new nearby schools. Now, their instincts have paid off, with new PropTrack data revealing the suburb's median house price has grown 23 per cent in the past five years as it has become one of the city's busiest property markets. The young couple, who run a personal training business from their home while raising two children, Payton (4) and Blair (1) say the area's sense of community, outdoor spaces and family appeal made it the perfect choice. RELATED: More than The Block: see the real Daylesford 'Kind of mad': where Melb prices boomed Roaches and crime, Melb's 'worst hotel' for sale 'We could picture raising a family here,' Mrs Otten said. 'It just had a really nice feel.' While the booming values were welcome, she said capital growth wasn't the main driver behind their decision to build in the suburb's thriving southeast corridor. 'We did think it could be a smart move long-term, but mostly we just loved the area,' she said. The pair now run their fitness business from a fully equipped garage studio, with a mix of local clients and a growing online presence, with Clyde North's connectivity and steady population growth helping them expand as the suburb's number of homes and sales has. 'There are so many families like ours here, and so many good outdoor spaces — the lake, the parks, walking tracks — it's perfect for an active lifestyle,' Mrs Otten said. Her advice to other young families still trying to break into the suburb was to stay focused on financial goals. 'Make sacrifices where you can,' she said 'Keep going, because it's absolutely worth it once you get there.'
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Let's make some f***ing money': The rise of Australia's social media gambling influencers
'$200 Bull Rush, $5 slaps, let's make some f**king money!' It's an increasingly common sight on social media — a young bloke posing in front of the pokies, fanning a handful of handful of $50 notes before loading up the machine and pressing spin. 'You guys know what time it is — it's gamble time,' declares the animated punter, a university student who goes by the handle Diceyninja. 'Alright boys, $400 on the pokies, let's do it,' another user going by the handle Degeneratebro tells his 30,000 followers. With his trademark $850 Gucci cap on backwards, he takes a puff of a 'lucky' vape and sculls a beer, theatrically slapping the spin button with the empty glass. 'Come on, boys!' Across social media and streaming sites like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Kick, a new generation of influencers is bringing pokies, blackjack, horse racing and other forms of gambling to a young — largely male — audience, racking up millions of views. 'You've got these influencers saying things like, 'I lost $10,000 last night but it's part of the game,' and young people nodding along in the comments,' said Darwin-based psychologist and gambling expert Nicola Coalter. 'They're not just influencers, they're behaviour shapers. We're watching what often is referred to as disordered gambling behaviour get rebranded as content.' Ms Coalter believes these influencers are helping condition 'a whole generation into gambling the way they were conditioned into scrolling'. 'It's almost cringe saying it but I feel like I'm a business guy and I feel like there was a gap in the market,' said Luca Kante, 23, who started sharing his now wildly popular pokies videos, which can now top one million views each, in mid-2024. The Gold Coast-based influencer — catchphrase 'come on cuz!' — has built up nearly 230,000 followers on Instagram. Kante has 'gambled since the day I turned 18' and firmly believes 'if you're an adult you can make your own decisions'. 'There was nothing really like it content-wise and there was definitely a demand — I could see people wanted to watch this,' he said. 'Now I feel like every single day there's a new page popping up copying what I'm doing.' The new wave of influencers are cashing on on Australia's unenviable reputation as the world's biggest gamblers — and the biggest losers. In March, a report by Equity Economics estimated Australia's annual gambling losses at $31.5 billion, eclipsing the $28.3 billion governments spend on aged care and $35.2 billion for the NDIS. At $1527 for every adult in the country, Australians have the highest per capita gambling losses in the world. Accounting for the fact that more than one in three adults don't gamble at all, the average loss increases to $2492 — a 25 per cent increase from pre-pandemic levels. Australia accounts for 1 per cent of the world's population but 18 per cent of its poker machines. Clearly seeking to ride the wave of young male eyeballs, a number of OnlyFans creators have also jumped on board the pokies trend. 'Welcome back to day 22 of betting $1 for every new Instagram follower,' former Love Island star Shelby Bilby — aka Shelbyslaps — says to her 6500 fans in one video. 'That's so sick! I can't believe this is my second slap,' she exclaims as she hits an $866 feature on a machine called Where's the Gold. 'I love this machine — Where's the Gold is really delivering the gold! You're kidding. Oh my God. Should I gamble it? Nah I probably shouldn't … And that, ladies and gents, is how you turn $100 into $966. Yeah the boys, let's go!' It's a gimmick first popularised last year by online blackjack influencer Tim Myers, aka Tim Naki, a former Kiwi dairy farmer who skyrocketed to viral fame by betting 10 cents for every follower. As his follower count surged — today Myers boasts more than 1.1 million — so did his bet sizes, culminating in a monster $115,000 gamble last May that netted him $1 million, before a bout of soul-searching after a string of eye-watering losses. Prominent tipster Benny Scarf, who came from nowhere to emerge as arguably the most influential personality in Australian racing, was directly inspired by Myers. 'To give people a journey to follow is quite engaging,' Scarf said, explaining the huge viral interest in their style of content. 'We have made gambling interesting and an opportunity for people to live through our gambling journeys. It is the theatre of the whole thing — from the hook, visuals and the personality we have also.' Dubbing himself 'God of Punt', Scarf has amassed an Instagram following of more than 220,000 with his wild antics, his 'one for the good guys' catchphrase and ever-growing bets — now in excess of $11,000, or 5c per follower. As Scarf nears day 150 of his betting challenge, his Instagram bio states that he's $141,160 in the hole. His plan going forward is simple. 'I will win,' he said. 'I will win it back and more.' Waving away questions about how he is able to place such large bets and his relationship with online bookmaker Dabble, Scarf has previously insisted '100 per cent it is my money'. Scarf, who also runs a subscription tipping service, includes an affiliate link to Dabble on his bio, which means he receives a percentage of the punter's earnings after they sign up. The exclusive partnership accounts for the 'overwhelming majority' of his earnings. 'It's been a really successful partnership for both of us, so I'm gonna ride that wave as long as possible,' he said. 'We're both very happy as far as I'm concerned. Business is good for both the affiliate part of it and the tipping service. I am launching flavoured vodka still water in the coming months which will be exciting too.' In May, Scarf was given the green light by NSW's gambling regulator following an investigation into his social media activity, which also delved into his relationship with bookmakers. 'Liquor & Gaming NSW recently engaged with Mr Ben Scarf to ensure his social media and website content complies with legal requirements regarding gambling harm minimisation messages,' Liquor & Gaming NSW said in a statement at the time. While Scarf's activity is all above board — Dabble, a fast-growing social media betting platform, is licensed with the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission — some gambling influencers appear to be playing in dangerous territory. A number of popular accounts reviewed by promote affiliate links to banned online casinos like Rainbet or Vegastars on their profiles. Online pokies and casino-style games like blackjack are illegal under Australian law, as is their promotion, which includes links. The communications watchdog recently warned gambling influencers they risked penalties ranging from $59,400 up to $2.48 million. 'We have seen influencers promoting illegal online casinos on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok and other social media,' the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said in a June press release. 'Young Australians who are active online can be more vulnerable. You may be putting people that follow you at real risk of harm. The ACMA is monitoring what influencers are promoting very closely.' Others openly flout the rules. In addition to his pokies content on Instagram, Kante also streams on Kick — a Twitch-style platform mainly used by gamers — where he bets thousands on virtual slot machines, blackjack and roulette with online casino Razed. Kante told Nine's A Current Affair earlier this year he was aware online casinos were banned in Australia but promotes them anyway. 'There's a way around anything at the moment,' he said. 'If I can work it out, a lot of younger kids can work it out as well. You see the wins, but you also see the losses.' Asked if he was concerned about regulators coming after him, Kante was reluctant to discuss his streaming content. 'I feel like I've taken the right steps and directions, not only for myself, just in general,' he told without elaborating. 'If anything that's probably 1 per cent of my brand. It's nothing to do with my Instagram, [which is just] real-life pokies.' For the most part, influencers who simply film themselves playing the pokies at the local RSL are not doing anything illegal. But their target market is obvious: young Aussies. Worryingly, gambling in Australia starts well before the age of 18. Various self-reported surveys, including by NSW and Victorian state governments, have put the rates of underage gambling in Australia at about 30-40 per cent. Among 18- and 19-year-olds, that figure rises to nearly half (46 per cent). More than 902,000 under-20s have gambled in the last year, of which 600,000 were aged 12 to 17, according to recent analysis by the Australia Institute. Putting that figure in perspective is a truly startling comparison. 'Australia's teenagers are now more likely to gamble than they are to play any of Australia's most popular sports,' the Australia Institute's Matt Saunders and Morgan Harrington wrote in a March discussion paper. Their report warned teens were 'losing big'. 'Annual expenditure on gambling among teenagers is an estimated $231 million, or an average of $86.72 per teenager per year,' they wrote. 'Of this, 12- to 17-year-olds spend around $18.4 million a year on gambling activities — this is about $30 a year for each underage teenager that admits to gambling. This is relatively small compared to the $213 million a year spent by 18- and 19-year-olds. This is $321 per 18- and 19- year-old, or a staggering $698 a year if limited just to those who do gamble.' Psychiatrist and author Dr Tanveer Ahmed recalls the first big shift in gambling occurred within the last 10 years, with the rise of online services that meant people could place bets from their phone. 'I would see people that had a gambling problem and they would make a bet in the waiting room before I saw them,' he said. 'But the more recent shift is now you're getting a much stronger overlap with lifestyle movements and gambling. This is where it's especially relevant with teenagers. It's become a bigger part of lifestyle promotion or curation, which is both why they're dangerous and they're quite effective.' Dr Ahmed said it was 'not dissimilar' to controversial influencer Andrew Tate. 'Tate will have some misogynistic idea but wrapped up in a lifestyle that's attractive for a lot of young men — great body, hot women, going on nice holidays,' he said. 'You can be popular, you can buy nice stuff, and linked to that here's this fun thing you can do with your friends. That's more attractive to adolescents. They're going to be very socially driven, it's all about peer belonging. They're all about self-comparison, they're more impulsive and they're less able to quantify risk.' And while the influencers 'are advocating a lifestyle that looks largely risk-free', Dr Ahmed said the glamorisation of gambling losses was also insidious. 'Underneath that is 'I can afford to lose that',' he said. 'It's a bit like going off a big jump with your mountain bike. There's an element of flexing, I think males in particular can be attracted to that.' More broadly, Dr Ahmed said teens increasingly viewed the online environment as a place to rebel, making gambling 'quite attractive on that front because it does feel a bit naughty'. He added many young males were already conditioned via lootboxes and other online payments in video games. 'In the last five years or so, if I'm seeing a 15-year-old I wouldn't be thinking about asking questions about gambling,' he said. 'I might ask them about vapes, marijuana, excessive video games, but this is quite a new thing you might ask them. The earlier you are exposed to it the more likely you are to develop addiction.' Ms Coalter said in her practice since Covid, she had seen people as young as 16 with gambling problems. 'I've worked with someone who lost $20,000 in two days,' she said.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Clyde North retail boom continues with Aldi slated for St Germain
Families in Clyde North will soon have another reason to shop local, with Aldi locked in for a major new store in the heart of the walkable St Germain precinct. The German supermarket chain will join Coles and 19 specialty retailers at St Germain Central, as part of a masterplanned lifestyle hub that's reshaping one of Melbourne's fastest-growing corridors. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026, with doors set to open in 2027. RELATED: Inside Wendy's bold Aus expansion plan 'Traps': Vic homes you shouldn't buy Gill Family Corp chief executive David Blumenthal said Aldi's arrival marked a major win for local residents, many of whom had already embraced the estate's retail offering since it opened in December 2023. 'This will probably be the first time most residents are hearing about Aldi coming in, and I imagine they'll be thrilled,' Mr Blumenthal said. 'You'll literally be able to walk across the car park from Aldi to Coles, top up your shopping in any of our 19 other stores, and get everything done in one stop. 'It's all about value, convenience, and choice.' While this won't be the first Aldi in the Clyde North catchment, it will bring the chain's newest store format to the estate, with energy-efficient features and a modern design brief aimed at future-proofing the space. Mr Blumenthal said Gill Family Corp had just secured planning approval, and are now working through the finer details before construction starts early next year. The walkable St Germain Central precinct already includes a full-line Coles, a newly opened medical centre, and specialty dining and retail tenancies, all anchored by underground parking and a village-style layout that's rare in new suburban estates. 'We've had amazing feedback,' he said. 'One of the big points of difference is the underground carparking, it's rare in greenfield developments like this.' 'We want our centres to feel good, function well, and offer an enjoyable experience. That pays off for everyone, retailers, residents, and the broader community.' The broader St Germain estate has also completely sold out its residential land component, with a growing population of families and professionals driving ongoing demand for local services. The Gill Family Corp chief executive said the outer southeast corridor is booming. 'The population in Clyde North is forecast to triple in the next five to six years, that's the scale of growth we're talking about,' he said. 'And with that growth comes demand for high-quality services, retail, health, education, lifestyle. Aldi saw that and jumped on board.' Looking ahead, the developers are also preparing to launch a major bulky goods precinct across the road from the centre, with three national anchor tenants already secured and more to be announced in the coming months. 'We've got 55ha of commercial land to develop over the next decade,' Mr Blumenthal said. 'There's a large new healthcare facility nearing completion next month, and we're continuing to expand the retail mix as demand grows.' 'We're in this for the long haul — as landlords and developers — and our aim is to deliver something of real quality that grows with the community.'
