Catchpole Brent: Gambling Bill — Third Reading 
Catchpole Brent: Gambling Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:611;Page:8640] 
BRENT CATCHPOLE (NZ First) 
: 
 The aim of the Gambling Bill—formerly the Responsible Gambling Bill—is to reform the law relating to gambling in New Zealand by repealing and replacing the Gaming and Lotteries Act and the Casino Control Act. Although this Government may trumpet other objectives the reality is that the bill will have serious consequences for sports cultural and service organisations. The potential for political patronage is a real concern. Alterations to the distribution process may well be called for but the proposals subject to political appointment and pressures will not meet community needs and will not reflect the interests of particular communities. There is potential for further behaviour modifications by the politically correct brigade in the Labour Party. As well as jeopardising the flow of grants to community groups it is likely that the dramatic increases in levies and administrative costs will further reduce the pool of available funds. 
The Government issued a 65-page Supplementary Order Paper of amendments to the bill a couple of days before the bill was considered in the Committee stage. Those amendments were not available for public submissions and what is more that Supplementary Order Paper 132 made changes against the recommendations of the select committee that considered the bill and the public submissions. Today the third and final reading of the bill is being rushed through the House so that the public and other affected parties cannot possibly have time to consider the changes and make comments on them. New Zealand First views that practice which is becoming common with this Government as appalling and undemocratic. 
The Supplementary Order Paper contains many detailed technical proposals and amendments and some of the more important amendments are as follows. One is the prohibition on the granting of any further casino licences in clause 8A. Another is the removal of the clause that prevents the setting up of Internet gambling. That is against the express recommendations of the select committee and is done with the approval of United Future. It had the opportunity to shut that down but no it approved it. The dangers of Internet gambling are very complex and enormous. Internet gambling takes away the security and the support of the casinos and parlours that run casino machines but does not protect the individual operating on the Internet. The Internet leaves it wide open; there are no checks and balances and no way to stop people from operating. Unless some changes are brought in very shortly we will find Internet gambling running amok. It is an easy way to gamble to spend money and to run up huge debts. 
The Supplementary Order Paper allows the New Zealand Racing Board to operate racing and sports betting conducted under the Racing Act in a casino. New Zealand First supports any issues that put the racing industry back on an even keel and an even playing field. 
There is a definition of housie but the legislation does not provide rules or restrictions on practices carried out under housie. Neither the bill nor the Supplementary Order Paper addresses the tremendous number of rorts and schemes to get round the so-called limits on housie fund distributions. 
Schedule 1 adds conditions that must be attached to a casino licence. As one member asked the other night what on earth do salary arrangements have to do with a casino licence? That is nothing more than the politically correct brigade within the Labour Party influencing the operations of a casino. Salary arrangements have no place in the licence. 
The Minister of Internal Affairs has a huge influence. He is able to move the presiding member of the board just by supplying a written notice to the person then sending a copy to the board without any explanations and without any recourse laid out in the bill. Under clause 87 the Minister has discretion to permit more than nine gaming machines at nine machine venues. The Minister has touted that this bill limits the number of gaming machines and will limit the number of gaming machines in new venues to nine yet this clause allows the Minister discretion to increase that number. So pressure from corporate societies that are supportive of the Government will result in those societies receiving preferential treatment under this clause. This clause also allows the Minister discretion to increase the number of machines in venues that support the Government. That is political interference. This bill leaves things wide open to abuse and political favouritism. One can only ask about United Future’s accountability under this bill. It has agreed to this clause and will obviously ask the Minister to allow societies that are supportive of United Future to increase the number of machines in their operation. 
Local territorial authorities have the ability to control activities in their areas only up until they issue a licence. Once a licence is issued they no longer have control over what happens and if they suddenly discover that gambling is out of control and harming their community they cannot do anything about it. 
I would like to mention that New Zealand First believes that the racing industry has not been on a level footing with the gambling industry for a long long time and we support any clauses that bring racing back to a level playing field. New Zealand First views the racing industry as a hugely important industry for New Zealand particularly for New Zealand’s economy and exports. 
I would like to acknowledge the Minister’s willingness to provide members of New Zealand First with a briefing with officials. It was greatly appreciated. Unfortunately it was at such a late stage that after careful consideration we found we still could not support a number of the clauses within the bill. Therefore we are voting against the bill. 
Finally I would like to add that those who claim to have that elusive thing called common sense probably do not.