Royal Hotel, Childers

Childers, where my folks live now, has four pubs and four churches - coincidence? I think not. The Royal is the only one that still makes its money by selling booze - the other three, like most pubs in Australia now, are just fronts for gambling. The introduction of poker machines ("pokies") and TAB betting (horses/greyhounds) has turned the majority of pubs in Australia into utterly soulless shells that take most of their profits from compulsive gamblers rather than drinkers.