Bradford Sue: General Debate 
Bradford Sue: General Debate 
[Volume:640;Page:10033] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party has been alarmed this week to hear new information about the prevalence of loan sharking inside New Zealand’s casinos. The Christchurch  
Press  
on the weekend did a sterling job with its revelations of the resignation of several senior staff of loan sharking in the casino’s VIP lounge and of allegations of irregularities in prize draws and discrepancies over gaming returns. The 
 Press  
alleged that loan sharks based at the casino were charging interest rates of 6 percent a week and that there were connections with loan sharks in Macau and with the ownership of local brothels. That was bad enough but since then we have learnt that loan sharking is endemic in casinos around the country and even in some class 4 venues—that is pokie parlours—as well. 
For example there are believed to be around 10 loan shark groups working at Skycity Casino in Auckland both on the ground floor and in the VIP lounges. It has been reported to me that the minimum loan in the VIP area is $10000 and that some gamblers are actually introduced to the loan shark by casino dealers. The loan shark has then visited the gambler’s home to ensure that he or she has a family that can be threatened. Any default on the loan or any late payment can lead to the person or his or her family members becoming seriously intimidated or actually hurt. Loan sharks also target Asian students on the ground floor of the Auckland casino where the minimum loan is $1000 to $3000. When some of those gamblers get into trouble with their loans they risk being recruited as agents for the loan sharks thereby perpetuating the cycle. It is reported that the dealers in the casinos sometimes refer gamblers to the loan sharks for help to get the money to keep them going. I have also heard that women who get badly into debt have sometimes been forced to work in massage parlours owned by loan sharks or by their associates in order to work off the debt. 
The Green Party has serious doubts about whether the Government is taking the nature and extent of this problem seriously enough. The responsible Minister the Hon Rick Barker has promised that his department will investigate accounts of loan sharking at the Christchurch Casino as recently revealed in the  
Press.  
However that is simply not enough. In relation to the pokie venues in February of this year the Department of Internal Affairs gaming investigations unit was criticised by the Auditor-General for doing too few audits of non-casino gaming operators. In relation to the casinos it has also been reported again by the  
Press 
 that according to someone with many years of experience in the casino business all the departmental inspectors do is to “come in eat our food (the inspectors eat for free in the casino staff canteen) read our newspaper and then go home not having done very much”. 
 What is really needed is not another Department of Internal Affairs investigation but a full public inquiry where the victims of the loan sharks and the staff and management in the casinos will have the ability to speak out freely without fearing retribution from either the loan sharks or their employers as the case may be. The Green Party remains concerned that perhaps the Government does not realise the nature of what it is dealing with here. The reality is that the profitability of casinos and pokie parlours comes in large part from desperate people who will do almost anything to get more cash in order to keep on gambling. All over the world gambling outlets—legal and illegal—are vulnerable to exploitation by criminals. Just because we are an isolated nation in the South Pacific that does not make us any different from the rest of the world. 
The Government must take action now to investigate fully what is happening with regard to loan sharking and associated criminal activity in casinos and class 4 venues. This inquiry should cover the whole gambling sector and the whole country not just part of it—and not just the Christchurch Casino. Evidence should be invited from all affected parties and people should be able to speak in confidence and in anonymity for obvious reasons. The Government should commit to taking all necessary actions following such an investigation to make sure that abuses are brought to an end and that casino and pokie operators are conscientious and careful in adhering to the Gambling Act and associated regulations. Dr Cullen told this House a few weeks ago that the Government has about $115 million invested in Sky City. Pending the withdrawal of the Government from investments of such a dubious nature the least that he and his colleagues could do is to ensure that the company and other gambling operators here foster a gambling environment that is as scrupulous as possible.