Sourced Online
problem gambling expert says New Zealand’s 20-year old gambling laws aren’t fit for purpose.
A problem gambling expert says New Zealand’s 20-year old gambling laws aren’t fit for purpose.
Auckland University of Technology is this week playing host to the Ninth International Gambling Conference.
AUT’s Gambling and Addiction Research Centre says Maori are more than two times more likely to be problem or high risk gamblers.
Cath Healy from Rangihaeata Oranga Trust, a Hawke’s Bay gambling recovery service, says that’s a reflection of the deliberately addictive nature of pokies and online gambling, which the regulators haven’t kept up with their talk of problem gamblers and responsible gambling.
“The actual problem is the gambling sector, the gambling industry itself because it is selling harmful products. Its products are extremely hazardous for our people. The rhetoric woven through the Gambling Act hides what is going on,” she say.
Ms Healy says governments have become addicted to gambling revenue through tax and being able to pass off the cost of social and community services on to gaming trusts.