Bradford Sue: Gambling Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Bradford Sue: Gambling Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:611;Page:8510] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 It is in Part 4 that we see another of the really terrible effects of the deal that this Labour Government has done with United Future. The new clause in the Minister’s Supplementary Order Paper introduces a new process for developing the problem gambling strategy which gives a greater voice and hence a greater influence to the gambling industry the Gambling Commission and the Minister of Internal Affairs over what happens with the problem gambling strategy and the associated levy. For those who may not be aware the process is that the Ministry of Health develops a draft of the problem gambling strategy and in the process of developing the strategy the ministry must consult all branches of the gambling industry including problem gambling providers. Then they go on to convene a meeting of a whole lot of bodies including the Department of Internal Affairs the Ministry of Health treatment providers and also the gambling industry itself. As a colleague from the problem gambling sector has said: “It’s like putting a fox among the chickens.” So the industry makes recommendations to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health about what happens to the level of funding and the problem gambling strategy. 
The gambling industry should not have a central role in developing the problem gambling strategy and the associated levy. Not only are the gambling industry representatives the agents responsible for problem gambling but also they have a major vested interest in reducing the size of the levy because of course they are the ones who pay it. We know from bitter experience that the gambling industry does not on the whole have a great sense of social responsibility when it comes to wanting to see those levies being equal to what is actually needed in the area of problem gambling. The industry’s estimates of the cost of problem gambling in this country which it submitted during the Government Administration Committee hearing were far lower than those presented by groups that work on the ground—those who know the real cost of treatment and the real cost of providing services at every level. 
The Green Party feels that the involvement of the gambling industry will not assist in the public health aspects of dealing with problem gambling. We were pleased that public health was a primary focus of the bill as initially drafted. We were pleased with the direction the Government was taking on this and it has been really distressing not only for the Green Party but for the many groups in this country that work on the ground—trying to deal with all the consequences of problem gambling—to feel that we are taking a giant step backwards with the Government’s Supplementary Order Paper tonight. It is also unclear why the Department of Internal Affairs and its Minister should have such a central role given that neither the Minister nor the department has any particular expertise or responsibility in either direct dealing with health issues or with public health strategies. 
We want to know whose voice Labour is listening to in this debate. Whose voice will it want to hear in the months and years ahead when it comes to dealing with problem gambling in this country? It is of huge concern. Will it even listen to the voice of its own party which came out today? The New Zealand Council of the Labour Party—the leading body of the Labour Party itself—which met in the weekend reached a unanimous decision on this issue which it put in a memo to the Labour Party caucus this morning stating: “In particular Labour New Zealand Council urges that this bill be: Not enabling the gambling industry to be involved in determining how much money should be levied for funding gambling treatment services and where it should be spent.” That directive came from a unanimous decision of the Council of the Labour Party. But is the Labour caucus listening to that voice? No obviously it is not. 
 Labour members seem to be quite relaxed about the booming culture in gambling in this country and about allowing the Lotteries Commission to engage in one of the most dangerous and pernicious forms of gambling—interactive and remote gambling. Have they listened to the problem gambling groups or looked at the statistics that are released week after week and month after month? No they are not listening at all. Do they take notice of the fact that women and young people are among those worst affected by the proliferation of pokie machines and all the other forms of gambling? The number of women problem gamblers is going up all the time. As with the statistics I quoted earlier I was shocked on visiting a problem gambling group in Hawke's Bay a couple of weeks ago to hear from that mainly tangata whenua group working with people on the ground there that in the pokie parlours in Hastings there are still children sitting with their mothers at the machines. 
What does that say? We thought the Department of Internal Affairs was supposed to be doing a much better job these days of regulating the machines and the pokie industry. I know it is trying hard but it is really distressing to hear that there is very little if any inspection or regulation happening to the industry in the provinces.