Essential information and facts about New Zealand:
Capital Wellington
Total Area Population Median age Religion
Ethnic Groups Languages
268,
838sq.km 5 million 37.2 years
Christian, Hindu, other European, Māori, Chinese English, Māori
Currency New Zealand dollars ($)
Government type Parliamentary democracy Chief of State
Head of Government Elections
Unemployment
King Charles III (represented by Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro)
Chris Hipkins (February 2023)
Leader of majority, or majority coalition appointed at Prime Minister. Next elections due by end 2023
3.3% (Sept 2022) Tourism 3.9 million (2019)
“Gambling harm from Pokies disproportionately affects Māori and we know that communities where harm is perpetuated are less likely to receive the proceeds of Class 4 gambling.” Said Selah Hart, CEO of Hapai.
Organisations are calling for local authorities to have greater powers to be able to regulate gaming machines in their communities. At the moment councils are limited under the Gambling Act and there are calls to overhaul the act completely.
Te Problem Gambling Foundation (PGF) group, which is a charitable trust offering counselling support for problem gamblers, has also welcomed the review.
Teir submission in response to the review highlights the inequities of the Pokies among the various ethnic populations.
Teir report says: “Te inequities of the Class 4 gambling system are well established and is disproportionately experienced by priority populations, including Māori, Pasifika and Asian peoples. Te 2018 Health and Lifestyles survey estimate indicated that Māori peoples were 1.5 times more likely to be moderate-risk or problem gamblers than non-Pacific peoples. Similarly Asian people’s risk factor of harmful gambling was 9.5 times higher when compared with European/other New Zealander).
“For PGF, Class 4 gambling is cited as the main mode of gambling for our Māori and Pasifika clients. Class 4 gambling is the second highest mode for our Asian clients, following gambling in casinos.
“Class 4 gambling is particularly harmful because of where the venues are located in our communities. As of 31 December 2021, almost
P92 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
63 per cent (658 out of 1,050) of Class 4 gambling venues in Aotearoa are in medium high or very high deprivation areas.”
Almost 2,000 submissions were received by the Department of Internal Affairs last year and these are currently being evaluated to develop a policy for changes to the Gambling Regulations 2004 (harm minimisation regulations).
Some key themes submitted suggested changes such as introducing pre-commitment systems for money or time and reducing the maximum stake.
However only 23 per cent of submissions agreed with a pre-commitment in terms or money or time whilst only 31 per cent agreed that there should be no access to ATMs inside a venue and only 16 per cent were in favour of reducing the maximum stake of $2.50. Many comments suggested machines are prohibitively expensive and too many changes may push people to gambling on online although there is support for higher infringement fees and more staff training to recognise problem gamblers.
THE CASINO MARKET
Casinos were approved in 1989 and the first casino to open in New Zealand was Christchurch casino in 1994. Today there are six licensed casinos open with no new licences issued under the Gambling Act 2003.
Te Casino Control Authority was dissolved under the gambling act in 2004 and now the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is responsible for the regulatory activities whilst the Gambling Commission reviews the operator licence and hears appeals against any decision made by the DIA.
Licences are issued for 25 years, except in the case of SkyCity Auckland which had its licence extended to 2048 under the New Zealand International Convention Centre Act in 2013, which also entitled the casino to operate more slots and table games after SkyCity agreed to build an International Convention Centre.
Te NZICC will be located in the centre of the Tamaki Makaurau Auckland City and will be 32,500sq.m in size and encompass entertainment and conference space over three levels plus a new 300 room five-star hotel.
Te completion date has been put back from beginning of 2025 to end of 2027. Te convention centre is being constructed by Fletcher Construction Company and is costing around $750m.
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