This month, New Zealand’s Harm Minimisation Bill was passed, and responsible gambling advocates were disappointed that many provisions were watered down. However, the Department of Internal Affairs is dedicated to ensuring that the bill dictates a higher percentage of pokie profit donations.

Chris Tremain, New Zealand’s Internal Affairs Minister, states that poker machines in pubs and clubs across the country will donate more of their profits to community organizations. Mr Tremain has set this as a main priority since becoming involved with Harm Minimisation efforts last month, and he would like to ensure that pokies are pulling their weight by donating a significant portion of their revenue to local initiatives.

At the moment, pokie clubs are required to donate a minimum of 37% of their games’ profits to community organizations. The average return is 42%, but Internal Affairs thinks that club and pubs owners could do better. “We want to be clear that at least in that range of 60 to 80% is going back into communities of interest," Mr Tremain says. He also wants to see more profits being donated back into the communities where they were earned.

At the moment, pokie profits are distributed evenly throughout the community; however, pokie spending is significantly higher in low-income areas. As such, the returns are disproportionate to spending and disadvantaged areas lose out in the long run. Internal Affairs suggests more transparency when it comes to pokie machine grants.

Representatives from the department want to ensure that pokie providers are distributing funds fairly, and increased transparency will prevent pokie trusts from misappropriating grant money. To gain support for these measures, Mr Tremain and the Department of Internal Affairs will be making submissions on the Harm Minimisation Bill. Local residents can also have their own say by making submissions until October 25th, 2013.

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.