LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF
Former pokies addict Michael Demchy on his struggle with gambling away a fortune in machines. (Video first published in 2018)
Wellington is poised to begin its long, slow ditching of pokie machines in a move that one city councillor believes will lead to a capital city without a single one of the “dirty money” machines. Tamatha Paul, the councillor pushing for the “sinking lid” pokie policy, and opposing councillor Simon Woolf are in agreement on one thing – the vote for a sinking-lid policy this Thursday is all but certain to pass. Barring any last-minute changes of heart, a Wellington City Council committee will agree to the policy, meaning all existing pokie machine venues can keep operating, but no new permits will be issued and, over time, this will theoretically lead to fewer gambling machines.
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There are different rules regarding profits from public gaming machines and club machines. Public gaming machines are required by law to invest a percentage of the income back into the community. The clubs don’t have to, but many do. Councillor Bryan Ferguson opened the debate at the October 2020 district council meeting, saying the council’s sinking lid policy on gaming machines was driving money out of the town. “So the whole community loses anyway,” Ferguson said. “The money that the majority of the people spend on gambling in our district is their own money, full stop. “And we can’t control or even try to control what the total financial loss of our community is through gaming. That’s a bit of a fallacy that really bugs me, saying it reflects the social demand for pokie and gaming machines in our district.
The Act is about harm minimisation and controlling the growth of gambling, Froude said. “The council is actually overturning the very best policy to reduce the harm, to put in something that appears on the surface of it to be increasing gambling,” she said. “It’s something that is ambiguous. What [the council] is calling [its] policy I’ve never heard of before, which is like a controlled increase in venue growth.” There are 23 pokies in the Ōtorohanga District, 18 at the Ōtorohanga Club and five at the Kawhia Hotel. The number has remained the same for the past two reviews.
Popular Kiwi band Six60 have been criticised over their association with Lotto promotional material.
Photo: Supplied
In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology.
Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Froude told RNZ the promotion risked normalising gambling to young fans. They re seeing their favourite band on a gambling product, which not only serves to normalise gambling, but could encourage them to buy the product. We need to also think about where the money is coming from. it is often the vulnerable who are impacted the most.