Auckland Council strongly opposes the government’s proposal to freeze the amount of pokie money returned to communities through grants.
In its submission to the Department of Internal Affairs’ Gambling Act 2003 consultation on proposed changes to the minimum rate of return from pokie gambling, the council highlighted the need to stick to the original plan and increase the amount of money the gambling sector must give back to the community.
Proposed changes undermine stated purpose of pokies
Councillor George Wood, chair of the council’s Class 4 Gambling Political Working Party, says the government’s proposed changes undermine the stated purpose of pokie gambling, which is to raise money for community grants.
“Across the Auckland region, we're seeing some alarming inconsistencies in the distribution of funds from pokie machines."
“Whilst this is not a tool for addressing problem gambling, it is one way to ensure that gambling money is redistributed to the communities it came from and in ways that support community activity like sports clubs and activities,” he says.
Proposed changes could see the intended return rate frozen at 40 per cent until 2020/2021, instead of increasing to 42 per cent by 2018/2019 as the current rules require.
Gambling industry should absorb cost of enforcement fees
“While the pokie industry has given reasons for suggesting this change, we believe the gambling industry can and should absorb the cost of its own enforcement fees, to ensure that community grants are not affected,” says Cr Wood.
Council’s submission recommended an increase of between 44.5 and 46.5 per cent by the 2018/2019 financial year.
