From the mayor's desk: Stratford mayor discusses gambling policy

The gambling policy is likely to attract lively discussion, says Stratford mayor Neil Volzke. Photo / File

Opinion

A requirement of the Gambling Act 2003 is that all Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) have in place a Class 4 gambling venues policy. The Stratford District Council is due to review its policy this year and it is one of the more socially orientated and contestable policies that we have in place.

Councillors will have their personal views, but will also have to grapple with their social conscience to find a balance between entertainment and fun, versus negative social and financial impacts. This discussion will be set amid a very wide range of public opinions on this subject.

The objective of the policy is to control the growth of Class 4 gaming venues in the district and to contribute to the reduction of harm from gambling, including problem gambling, in the Stratford District. For those unfamiliar with term Class 4 venues, these are the ones that host gaming machines, more commonly known as "pokie machines".

Many TLAs have a "sinking lid" policy for pokie machines in their communities, something that is strongly supported by the Problem Gambling Foundation. This means that when a venue closes, pokie machines cannot be transferred to a new venue and no new licences can be issued. It ensures that, over time, the number of pokie machine and venues will decline.

Despite Stratford not having a sinking lid policy the number of machines in the district has declined markedly from a high of 54 machines in 2004, down to the present 27 active machines and a further nine that are licensed but not operating at present. At the time of the last policy review the council chose to lock in this reduction and put a "cap" on the number of machines, setting the maximum limit at a total of 36.

In general terms, I don't think we as elected members see ourselves as the fun police, stopping people from having a bit of fun or the occasional flutter on the pokies. But we do have a legal and social obligation to play a role in the public health response to reduce the harm attributed to these machines and the resulting problem gambling issues associated with them. There is overwhelming evidence that for many people, playing the pokies can be very, very addictive and unquestionably is the most harmful form of gambling.

The gambling statistics demonstrate just how much impact pokie machines have in each TLA in New Zealand. The money that is lost on pokie machines is called the Gaming Machine Profits (GMP). It is the amount put into machines, less the amount paid out as prizes. In 2020 the annual GMP for New Zealand was more than $810 million and the Stratford share of that amount was $1.35m. Taking that amount of money out of this community every year can only cause grief.

So what happens to the $1.35m taken out of the Stratford community each year? Some was returned by way of grants to clubs and community organisations, but we are very big losers in this respect, as only $71,000, or 5.3 per cent, was returned in this form.

Interestingly, around 40 per cent of GMP must be returned to the community by way of contestable grants, but the criteria are set and a final decision is made by the net proceeds committee of each trust. Clearly their criteria do not require all the funds to be granted to the area they were derived from.

The balance is dispersed through a mix of channels. Venues can be paid up to 16 per cent of the GMP to host the pokie machines and they can also keep an amount that covers their expenses, estimated to be about 20 per cent of GMP. Let's not forget the Government benefits from pokies, by collecting 23 per cent of GMP as a duty and a regulator's fee. And the Problem Gambling Levy is a compulsory payment to IRD of around 1 per cent and is used for research into problem gambling and public health and intervention services.

I look forward to the gambling venues policy review in coming months, it is a challenging and often divisive subject.