Bradford Sue: General Debate 
Bradford Sue: General Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:11144] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 Two months ago I raised questions with Minister Rick Barker about the existence of endemic loan sharking inside our main casinos along with other irresponsible and downright criminal behaviour. His response at the time was that he intended to make no comment until an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs was completed. He said that the department checks all the money that goes in and out of a casino and has very thorough checks and that he is “confident the department has a good idea of what is going on.” Well I say to the Minister the department might have an idea about what is going on but what on earth is it doing about it? 
I do not know whether the Minister saw the news on Television One last night but just last week a loan shark at work was filmed in Skycity Casino in Auckland. This gentleman is based in the VIP lounge on the third floor and further revelations as to the details of his activity are I believe to be aired tonight. Not only did the team from Television One film the operations of this fellow; they also chased him around the Skycity car-park without apparently once being seen much less apprehended by the supposedly highly regulated and foolproof security systems operating in the casino. 
Although this is just one episode I think it highlights the extent to which slack security and a dubious lack of regulatory attention characterise the approach to criminal activity in New Zealand’s casinos. It appears that security staff numbers are so low that staff cannot even monitor the cameras adequately. In terms of regulators the Department of Internal affairs appears to check out the casino only during business hours. It does not take an expert to realise that maybe a lot of the perhaps less desirable activity in the casino might actually be happening outside the hours of 9 to 5. 
The Minister told me in question time today that the department already knows about this particular loan shark who was caught on TV and that his activity is being followed up. But it seems from the Minister’s attitude that he does not think there is any kind of problem. When will the Minister wake up to the fact that this is all a lot bigger than he thinks? Perhaps the Minister truly does not know what loan sharking is as he seemed to indicate in his media release following the release of the earlier report from the Department of Internal Affairs—a release in which he asked: “What is a loan shark?”. He then sent his officials away to bring him the answers. Or is it that the Minister thinks that loan sharking like that revealed on Television One last night is actually legal? 
Well I say to the Minister it is not—not for example when people are having to hand over their passports as security and when they are paying 8 percent a week compound interest with no written contract. It is not legal when a loan shark is operating with impunity inside the four walls of a casino—and now we know not only with impunity in terms of the casino itself but also with impunity in terms of the Department of Internal Affairs. None of that is legal as far as I am aware under New Zealand law. 
I do not think that the Minister understands the seriousness of what is going on and what damage is being done in and around the casinos and pokie parlours of this country. He may be fooled but most of the rest of the population are not. Many people would dearly love for there to be a full public inquiry into what is really going on. Both employees in the industry and gamblers and their families need an opportunity to tell the truth of what is happening without fear of reprisal. We need to get the fullest possible picture of the situation not one given to us through the prism of the Department of Internal Affairs or of gambling operators themselves. 
I also call on the Government to withdraw the Gambling Amendment Bill which it has tabled in Parliament but which has not had its first reading yet. This bill contains only small policy and technical amendments not the major reforms to the operation of the gambling sector that are so badly needed. I believe that Labour would actually gain tremendous kudos from the public if it dared to take that bill back and start again on the back of an inquiry into the true depth and nature of what is happening with gambling in our communities right now both in the casinos and in the non-casino gaming-machine sector. 
It is not good enough for the Minister to continue to calmly sit on his hands and wait for the answers to appear magically at some distant point in the future. Real people are suffering right now because of the actions of casino and pokie operators and the lack of action from departmental regulators. The time to act I say to the Minister is now.