Dowie Sarah: Gambling Amendment Bill (No 2) — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDowie Sarah: Gambling Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee[Sitting date: 11 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1509. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill):Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Gambling Amendment Bill (No 2). As we have already heard this is a bill that follows the Gambling Act 2003 which took effect in 2004. That parent Act brought about major reforms to the gambling sector and I think this bill following on from that Act is extremely important even though it makes technical changes. The parent Act was basically an acknowledgment that there are some people who are badly affected by gambling. In other words they do not have the shut-off gene. But there are some who can gamble appropriately and have fun. This is about technical changes that will refine the parent Act and help to balance the rights of those who want to gamble safely while minimising harm to those who cannot do so. This particular amendment is one of a series of amendments that like I say make technical changes that clarify the legislation since the passing of some case law. In particular this bill as we have heard relates to class 4 gambling which is non-casino gaming machines or pokies as they are more commonly known.There are a couple of things that I want to focus on in this bill that I think particularly make a difference to minimising harm. The first is in clause 80(1AA) where a venue manager rather than the licensee of a class 4 venue licence is now liable for any failure to display a notice in the gambling area advertising to customers that the venue has a policy for identifying problem gamblers. Immediately the manager the person who is in charge of the operation on the ground is on notice and there is a compulsion to display that information is readily available to gamblers. It basically puts that venue and those people gambling on notice that the venue is a responsible venue and that questions will be asked and that if a problem gambler is identified that person will be steered in the right direction.The second thing I want to focus on in this bill which follows directly on from that is clause 86(8) which restricts the availability of eftpos machines close to pokies themselves. Although eftpos machines are not prohibited the clause will require a player as the member opposite has already alluded to to step away from the machine and have time out basically forcing a time of reflection to give them time out and hopefully keep them away from destroying their lives. I think this is an extremely practical measure a common-sense measure that has been brought into this bill to help clarify the parent Act and hopefully add to the avoidance of situations where people may experience devastating consequences to their lives.As the newly elected deputy chair of the Government Administration Committee I was not privy to the process that was heard in respect of the bill but I want to thank the previous committee for the work that it has done. I think it is important work. Even though they are technical changes they go towards creating practical solutions to minimise harm. I think that is commendable. As such I support this bill.