Consultation on proposed poker machine reform

Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain says the Government is delivering on its promise of reforming Class 4 gambling (non casino gaming machines) and has released a consultation document on proposals to improve four key areas.

“The proposals I want to introduce follow on from the work with Te Ururoa Flavell on his Gambling Harm Reduction legislation and are part of a clear work programme of reform announced in June this year.  Our intended changes demonstrate the strong commitment this government has to reforming the Class 4 sector,” says Mr Tremain.

“The public want a fairer and more transparent system and these changes will address that. The proposals will deliver more funding for the community, allow for fairer distribution, and cut red tape.” 

The proposals in the discussion document are aimed at :

• increasing the transparency of Class 4 grant-making decisions
• increasing the minimum rate of return to the community
• increasing the proportion of proceeds returned to the communities that generated them
• reducing the compliance costs for Class 4 operators 

“There is a large amount of public interest in Class 4 gambling and I welcome feed-back on the proposed regulatory changes.  These four reforms are part of a wider package of proposals previously agreed to,” says Mr Tremain.

“In addition to these reforms, there is also work underway to assess the most cost effective harm minimisation measures that could be introduced through regulation making powers.

“I also intend to introduce further legislative changes in a number of areas.  This will enable the auditing of management companies that provide services to gaming societies, allow longer licences to be issued as an incentive to compliant societies and enable grant information to be published online rather than in a newspaper. There will also be improvements to help prevent conflicts of interest and ‘rorts’ of the system.”

The consultation document is available on the Department of Internal Affairs website :  http://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/URL/Gambling_Public-consultation-on-four-Class-4-gambling-proposals_September-2013.pdf/$file/Gambling_Public-consultation-on-four-Class-4-gambling-proposals_September-2013.pdf

The Department is also releasing the Venue Costs Resubmission Final Report which provides information on the costs incurred by venues hosting gaming machines.  It is available on the Department’s website:   http://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/URL/Gambling_Venue-costs-resubmission-project-final-September-2013.pdf/$file/Gambling_Venue-costs-resubmission-project-final-September-2013.pdf

The consultation period runs until 25th October 2013.and submissions can be emailed to : Class4submissions@dia.govt.nz