Residents of New Zealand have not be very impressed with the actions of casino operator SkyCity and Prime Minister John Key. The two parties have spent the past months negotiating their convention centre deal behind closed doors, and now SkyCity claims that it has been victimised throughout the process by local politicians and residents.

Throughout the entire negotiation process, SkyCity and John Key were painted as villains. Residents were not pleased that they would make so many important decisions without input from the general public. It left a bad taste in their mouths, and they had no problem voicing their concerns about the project – which would provide SkyCity with hundreds of new pokies in return for building a $402 million convention centre in Auckland.

Nigel Morrison, SkyCity CEO, claims that the residents and politicians have victimized his company. Their debate over the deal and their comments about the plan, have painted the company in a negative light, which has had a damaging effect on the plan’s progress in parliament. This week, the convention centre bill passed its first reading – but only by a hair.

With support from the National, United Future and the Act Parties, the bill passed with a vote of 59 to 61. Morrison feels that the result would have been much more favourable if there had not been so much talk in the media about SkyCity being ‘morally bankrupt’. “It's not a fair assessment of us and I think we've been victimised in the process”, Morrison says.

"We're, quite frankly, quite upset about that, and we're very concerned for our staff and our customers and a lot of things that have been said have been totally wrong." The bill will be presented for a second reading in November 2013. The CEO hopes that his company will be able to rebuild its image among the general public by then.

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.