Operators are racing to install poker machines before new laws expected to restrict numbers, the Coalition for Gambling Reform said yesterday.
Chairman Dave Macpherson said 3000 poker machines were licensed in the year to September 30, the largest number licensed in a year.
There were 25,540 machines in the country - one
for every 153 people, he said.
Mr Macpherson claimed the increase occurred because gaming machine operators were trying to beat the Responsible Gambling Bill's becoming law
The proposed law was announced in October last year and is due for its second reading in Parliament.
It is a Government priority to be passed before Christmas.
"Bar owners and pokie trusts have seen that there are going to be some restrictions in the future and have been fearful of them," Mr Macpherson said.
"They rushed to get in new machines.
"That the Government has allowed that to happen has sort of subverted half the purpose of the new legislation.
"By allowing those extra pokie machines you're dramatically increasing the number of gambling addictions."
The Responsible Gambling Bill will restrict high-risk gambling by limiting gaming machines on new sites, give communities the power to veto new sites, ban new casinos and collect a levy to fund the treatment of problem gambling.
The gaming industry vowed to fight the legislation when it was introduced, saying there should have been a comprehensive review before any changes.
Gambling Machine Association chairman Garry Ward said people who put in gaming machines, knowing new legislation was likely, would be caught out.
"If those machines should not be in place they will have their licences revoked and that's as it should be."
- NZPA
