Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Pokie machine venues in Whangārei to pause for one hour

Imran Ali
By Imran Ali
Multimedia Journalist·Northern Advocate·
30 Aug, 2019 12:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Five sites with pokie machines in Whangārei will open late in a bid to reduce gambling harm in Northland. Photo / NZME

Five sites with pokie machines in Whangārei will open late in a bid to reduce gambling harm in Northland. Photo / NZME

Pokie machines managed by the Oxford Trust in Whangarei won't operate for one hour as part of efforts to reduce the impact of gambling on Northland families.

Five sites with pokie machines throughout Whangārei will open an hour late on Monday as part of collaboration between Nga Manga Puriri Northland Problem Gambling Services and the trust to mark Gambling Harm Reduction Week.

Last year's campaign involved pausing pokie machines at five locations in Whangārei, one in Kaikohe and one in Kaitaia.

Nga Manga Puriri manager Marino Murphy is calling on other trusts such as the Pub Charity and Lions Foundation to come on board and help in efforts to reduce gambling harm.

The initiative comes as the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is seeking public feedback on how online gambling is affecting the lives of New Zealanders and how best to regulate it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The current Gambling Act is from 2003. Back then, internet technology was still developing. Lawmakers couldn't have foreseen the way that gambling would develop online 16 years on," DIA said.

The Government department plans to update laws for today's digital world and future-proof them as much as possible.

Murphy supported the review, saying her counsellors were seeing an increase in online gambling in Northland that left cash-strapped families further in debt.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We get IT specialists to block online gambling sites because there's been instances where the problem gamblers have blocked then unblocked sites. Online gambling is difficult to monitor and control.

"They don't seek help until they are in crisis. Those that play pokies can self exclude themselves from those sites but that can't be done for online gamblers," she said.

She said while local councils may have a sinking lid policy for the number of gaming machines and venues, the policy was not working.

Murphy said problem gamblers that sought help often have other issues that needed to be dealt with such as anger, violence, and a lack of money.

Northlanders spent $9.1m in the first quarter of this year on gambling machines.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

'Long-term implications': Alarm over doubling of KiwiSaver withdrawals

01 Jul 05:00 PM
Northern Advocate

CityLink service to Ōtangarei street returns after rock-throwing incidents

01 Jul 03:10 AM
Northern Advocate

Former Wimbledon champ's academy set to boost Northland tennis

01 Jul 01:58 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'Long-term implications': Alarm over doubling of KiwiSaver withdrawals

'Long-term implications': Alarm over doubling of KiwiSaver withdrawals

01 Jul 05:00 PM

Northlanders' KiwiSaver withdrawals for hardship rose 109% from 2022 to 2024.

CityLink service to Ōtangarei street returns after rock-throwing incidents

CityLink service to Ōtangarei street returns after rock-throwing incidents

01 Jul 03:10 AM
Former Wimbledon champ's academy set to boost Northland tennis

Former Wimbledon champ's academy set to boost Northland tennis

01 Jul 01:58 AM
‘Heart and soul’: Miss NZ finalist champions mental health journey

‘Heart and soul’: Miss NZ finalist champions mental health journey

01 Jul 12:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP