This week, Dunedin City Council decided to impose a sinking lid policy on pokies in the South Dunedin area. While this has been seen as a positive step forward in the quest to curb problem gambling rates, some individuals believe that the sinking lid policy should apply to the whole city. The new sinking lid policy, which was imposed this week, aims to reduce the number of pokies in South Dunedin to 50 machines at just 5 venues.

Currently, there are 12 pokie venues in the area with 168 games. Throughout the rest of the city, a cap has been imposed. Only 30 venues can have pokies and 362 games are permitted. Councillor Richard Thomson has spoken out against this model, as he believes that he sinking lid policy should apply throughout the entire city. The national average rate of pokies is 5.2 games per 1000 people.

South Dunedin is well above the average with 12.9 games per 1000 people and the rest of the city is well below the average with 3.7 games per 1000 people. As such, the rest of the council argued that the sinking lid policy should only apply to South Dunedin, but Cr Thomson disagrees. “I would like to see these machines reduced,” Thomson says.

“A sinking lid is one way of doing that without becoming the moral arbiter of the rest of the community.'' The issue is now up for debate among Dunedin councillors. Just a week ago, it seemed as though they had made their final decision, but Thomson is dedicated to campaigning for this cause. It is likely that pub and club owners across the city will protest the proposal while responsible gambling advocates back Thomson’s plan.

As the story develops, we will keep you updated.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.