Calls to gambling helpline falling

Fewer people are seeking help for gambling problems, figures from a helpline show.

The statistics reveal the Bay of Plenty is set to record its lowest rate of gamblers seeking help.

But anti-gambling campaigners warn that less people seeking help from the Gambling Helpline does not necessarily mean there are fewer problem gamblers.

Provisional figures show that of the 2666 new clients spoken to by the helpline last year, 158 - or nearly 6 per cent - of them were from the Bay of Plenty.

In the previous four years, a total of 1344 new callers from the region contacted staff for assistance.

Nationwide, Auckland took the top spot for calls to the helpline last year, tying up the phone lines 34 per cent of the time, followed by Canterbury at 12 per cent, Wellington with 11 per cent, Central North Island region 7 per cent and Waikato 6 per cent.

Despite the large population in each of the five areas, helpline chief executive Krista Ferguson said it tended to be people from smaller communities who turned to the gambling helpline.

"The number of people living in smaller communities and getting hooked on gambling is a major problem," she said.

People who lived in such townships relied on pokies for entertainment and some spent hours at the machines.

The number of people using the gambling helpline was falling overall but Ms Ferguson said it was important to remember the helpline reached only 10 per cent of those affected.

She said the smoking ban, which came into effect a year ago, and tougher legislation on gambling outlets had resulted in fewer people contacting the helpline with gambling problems.

Anti- gambling spokeswoman and Rotorua district councillor Maureen Waaka said it was wrong to say the Bay of Plenty and the rest of New Zealand did not have a gambling problem.

In Rotorua there are 464 poker machines at 33 venues.

Mrs Waaka said there were still too many people who had closet gambling problems and were not getting help.

She pointed to the case of Kim Haumaha, the wife of top police officer Inspector Wally Haumaha from Ngongotaha, who gambled away thousands of dollars from the family's savings before stealing almost $24,000 from her employer, Westpac Bank. She was charged and sentenced to community work last year.

"In that case, the family had no idea. How many others are there out there? We are hearing all the time that it is Maori women and it is still a major concern."

* The helpline (0800 654 655) is open 8am-10pm from Monday to Friday and 9am-10pm on Saturday and Sunday.

- additional reporting Yvette Wakelin

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)