Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne says that the ‘public discussion document gives the public a chance to have their say’. It is the next step in the New Zealand government’s review of existing gambling laws, which ultimately aims to improve the way in which pokie funding is distributed in order to better benefit the local community.

Members of the community can read the discussion document here. Submissions can be made, which will be considered by government officials and discussed by key stakeholders, such as commercial venues, problem gambling service provides, grant recipients and societies.

“We will be looking at proposals to future-proof that funding,” Mr Dunne says. “This discussion document is an opportunity for the community to let the Government know what they think are the challenges faced by the sector, and how to ensure that we get the maximum benefit from class 4 gambling, without growing gambling and minimising harm”.

Submissions to the Department of Internal Affairs is due by Friday, August 12, 2016. You can email your submission to [email protected], or you can send it by post to:

Safer Communities Team
Policy Group
Department of Internal Affairs
PO Box 805
Wellington 6140

Effective in October, the new measure will provide bar and club owners with a commission based on the amount of money that their poker machines make. It is aimed at compensating the 966 venues across the country that host pokies, providing the owners with a commission worth up to 1.28% of the weekly turnover on their pokies.

The new measure has responsible gambling advocates concerned. With club owners being offered a commission based on the amount of money that players spend on pokies, staff members are less likely to intervene when they suspect that a player is exhibiting problem gambling behaviour.

Denise Roche, spokesperson for The Greens expresses these concerns:

“You have got a guy sitting there for hours obviously in distress and you have got staff who may want to intervene but the venue owner is saying ‘no, no we want to get our 1.28 per cent’.”

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has also acknowledged this issue, stating that ‘venues may be incentivised to maximise income relative to costs’. He also notes that this may lead to a ‘risk of some venues being less likely to intervene when problem gambling is suspected or occurring’.

Dunne has suggested counterbalancing the issue by offering fair and adequate pay to gambling venues. This would provide the venues with the resources necessary to combat problem gambling among their players, intervening when appropriate to offer them potential assistance.

The new commission scheme will take effect in October 2016, and it is likely to spark up plenty of debates. We will keep you posted as this story develops.

Recently, Lotto NZ has issued a tender that calls for gaming companies to create ‘instant win games’, which will be offered through the MyLotto online platform. The company has recognised the popularity of online scratchcards, and hopes to improve revenue by offering them to MyLotto players.

Currently, there are 400 000 registered users on the platform, which will certainly yield some significant returns if this new product is introduced. Instant win games account for 15% of all LottoNZ sales, so it only seems natural to make these games available online, where players can access more conveniently.

The Problem Gambling Foundation is concerned about players being able to access scratchcards on the internet. With mobile technology become more advanced, responsible gambling advocates feel as though vulnerable players will use their smartphones or tablets to play instant win games at any time and from virtually anywhere.

“In an online environment, there is real potential for this to be quite harmful,” says a spokesperson for the foundation. “It would mean that 24/7 you’re carrying around the opportunity to gamble like this in your pocket.”

LottoNZ has addressed these concerns by stating that strict responsible gambling measures will be enacted. For example, some online lottery sites limit users to only player a certain number of instant win games a day; others offer players the chance to set limits so that they don’t spend more than they can afford on lottery tickets or scratchcards. While these seem like plausible solutions, the Problem Gambling Foundation has yet to respond.

“The Green Party intends to implement sensible and pragmatic measures that reassert the role of public health as the primary driver of gambling regulation, rather than economic development and convention centres,” says Greens Co-Leader Metiria Turei.

One of the proposed measures is the introduction of pre-commitment cards. Since there will be 230 new pokies at the casino, The Greens believe that pre-commitment cards would help poker machine players limit their spending. Players can set limits before they begin playing, and they will receive regular updates on their spending before being locked out once they have exceeded their budgets.

The Greens are confident that this measure would be effective but Mr Key is not convinced. He has spoken out against pre-commitment cards, starting that the measure would discourage players from visiting the casino altogether. There will certainly be a fierce debate on the issue, as we are certain that The Greens will not give up easily.

From 7am to 6pm on Monday, October 14th, a life-sized casino made of cardboard will be located in the square. It will consist of 510 pokies, the total number of games that will exist in SkyCity Auckland if the convention centre deal is passed. The Greens encourage residents to visit the casino and write a message on the cardboard voicing their concerns to the government.

The idea of the protest is to show residents the scale of the SkyCity’s potential expansion. The gambling operator will be receiving an additional 230 pokies, and The Greens argue that this is the size of the average casino.

“SkyCity gets a whole new casino without having to go through any of the regulatory process required in law to set up a new casino,” says Greens co-leader Metiria Turei. “We want to show New Zealanders the scale of what the Government has gifted to SkyCity”.

At the moment, the moment amount of revenue that pokies must donate is 37%. Mr Tremain would like to see that boosted to 43% over the course of the next four years, which would result in an additional $42 million being donated to local community groups.

He also wants to ensure that pokie grants are delivered back into the community from which the pokie revenue was collected. Low income areas have the highest pokie spending, but pokie grants are distributed evenly across the country. As such, disadvantaged communities receive a disproportionate amount of funding from gaming grants.

“There is a perception that money returned to particular areas is disproportionately low compared to the amount that was raised in that area through the gaming machines,” says Mr Tremain. “The potential harm from gambling in particular communities is not being mitigated through commensurate returns to that community.”

Relocating SkyCity Queenstown was proposed as a potential way to help subsidize the cost. 748 public submissions were made, and more 40% of them opposed the plan. According to the Otago Daily Times, 33% of submissions ‘strongly opposed’ the casino while 10% ‘opposed’ it.

“If there was no risk to the community of greater cost, timeliness of the development process or completion deadline we would support some combined development,” says Graham Budd of Destination Queenstown, the state’s tourism organisation.

Destination Queenstown echoes the sentiments of most residents by supporting a standalone convention centre. Representatives of the organization believe that the venue can be profitable and successful on its own, and that the construction of a casino will hinder the progress and increase the cost of the convention centre.

Shortly after Mr Flavell presented his bill, it was amended by a select committee. According to responsible gambling groups across the country, the ‘watered down’ bill was hardly recognizable, and they asked the author to withdraw it – but Flavell persisted.

“It is a bittersweet moment for me. When I think back to where we came from and the original intent of the bill, of course I am disappointed,” he says. “But, I have chosen to pursue change, and in my view this bill represents a small step in the right direction.”
The Harm Minimisation Bill will changed the way in which poker machines are regulated across the country. It will not only increase the amount of money that pokies donate to community organizations; it will also increase transparency, so that gaming trusts cannot misappropriate funds.

The Department of Internal Affairs supports the passing of the bill, and representatives will work with Flavell to ensure that its terms are enforced throughout the country.

South Dunedin’s new sinking lid policy aims to reduce the number of games until there are only five pokies clubs containing a maximum of 50 games. At the moment, there are 12 clubs with 168 pokies, making the rate of games 12 pokies per 1000 people.

Throughout the rest of Dunedin, there are 3.4 pokies per 1000 people, which is far below the national average of 5 games per 1000 people. There is a cap of 362 pokies in 30 venues, but some councillors want to see a stricter policy.

Councillor Richard Thomson has requested that South Dunedin’s sinking lid policy apply to the whole city. He believes that this will help to reduce problem gambling rates across all of Dunedin. As expected, club and pub owners are not on board, so there will likely be a heated debate over the issue.

Jiroh, 11, and sister Jireh, 12, spoke at the symposium to provide the audience with a look at their experience with problem gambling. Both of their parents are addicted to gambling, and they wanted to ensure that other young people in their situation develop a healthy outlook.

Jiroh read from poem, which pleaded with his parents to stop gambling and to put their children first. He stated that children are the most affected when problem gambling is present in a family, because they are often neglected. As such, they develop feelings of anger and depression.

Their performance at the symposium was inspiring. Gaming industry professionals and researchers that attended gave them a standing ovation, and they now have a better understanding of how children are affected by problem gambling.

“We really really do need to care for our most disadvantaged children,” says Victoria University professor Jonathan Boston. “They are precious, they are vulnerable and they are powerless. If we do not speak on their behalf, then they cannot”.