te Heuheu Georgina: Gambling Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
te Heuheu Georgina: Gambling Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:611;Page:8472] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (NZ National) 
: 
 My colleague Judith Collins basically set the tone for debate on the issue of casinos—of which there will be no more. I am very disappointed that the Minister did not support amendments to the definition clause which would have allowed the Rotorua application for a casino venue licence to be at least considered. I wonder what it is that this Minister and this Government have against Maori seeking to participate in the economic development and growth of Rotorua which as has been stated already by a member from this side of the Chamber is one of our premier tourist destinations in New Zealand. 
What is in the issue that the Government seeks to bar participation by legitimate tribal business organisations to bring gambling and casinos into the city in an ordered way and to make provision at the same time for genuine community consultation which was one of the big things the member Dianne Yates promoted earlier in the piece? It was not that it would be a foregone conclusion; it would be that Rotorua people would have the opportunity to say whether they wanted this development in their town. 
As I said earlier there are two planks to this matter. The first is the unconstitutional nature of the legislation that unfairly shut the door of development for Rotorua. The real harm that results when moratoriums are used is because of the fact that if applications are just about in the door thousands of dollars-worth of money has already been spent in getting applications to that point. That happened in 1997. Money had already been spent in developing the application—hundreds of thousands of dollars—only for it to be shut out. 
It was thought that no long-term harm would ensue because when the moratorium came in in 1997 it was brought in such a way that the country could take a couple of steps back to review the whole of casino development. But there was an expectation particularly on the part of the Rotorua developers that once the issue came back on the table they would have a fair chance to participate. Given the extraordinary amounts of money they had already expended that would have seemed an entirely fair expectation. So it was a huge disappointment that the Minister did not support my amendments to the definition section. Of course he still has time to change his mind and this Government still has time to change its mind. 
There is a big Maori voting population up there in Rotorua—of good people. They are very responsible not just in terms of their commercial development but also in terms of understanding their social responsibility. Both can be taken care of which is not what can be said of the current situation with the proliferation of pokie machines. I would invite the Minister to go and visit Rotorua to go into all of those little bars and clubs and to have a look at the disarray occurring with the pokie machines— 
Hon David Carter 
: Open a police station. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: He could open a police station and add some more police there. The reality is that while the Government supposedly wants to be responsible about this area it is nothing of the sort. This Government will not allow another casino development in the country but it is doing nothing to stop the proliferation of pokie machines. They are dangerous to the community—absolutely. It is shameful that the Minister is not moving to do anything about them. He should go to visit those many clubs and bars in Rotorua and see the types of people who are there. There is no control.