Iwi asks public to support casino proposal

A Ngati Whakaue-owned company has launched a last-minute bid to allow Rotorua residents rather than politicians to decide whether they want a casino in their city.

Pukeroa Oruawhata Holdings, which is keen to build a casino on its land, is asking residents to support the right to vote on the issue through a form published in the local newspaper.

The move comes as new laws affecting gaming rules are due for a second reading in Parliament.

The law changes would restrict high-risk gambling by limiting gambling machine numbers, give communities the power to veto new sites, ban new casinos and collect a levy to fund the treatment of problem gambling.

Pukeroa Oruawhata Holdings chairman Malcolm Short said he believed locals, not politicians, should decide on the casino.

The Government slapped a three-year moratorium on the establishment of new casinos in 1997 - just days before Pukeroa Oruawhata's offshoot, Rotorua Casino, was to put its plans to the Casino Control Authority.

Although the Government extended the moratorium for a further three years in 2000, Mr Short's company has vowed to press ahead with plans.

He believes people need to hear the case for a controlled casino to allow them make up their own minds about whether the city wanted to compete with Auckland and Hamilton for tourists or "continue to stagnate".

Anti-casino lobbyist Maureen Waaka said she was confident Rotorua would oppose a casino.

"This is Pukeroa Oruawhata's last dying effort to bring a casino here. Whatever flash name you're going to tack on to it, a casino is a casino and we don't need it."

- NZPA