Community to get share of online gambling money

The Online Casino Gambling Bill seeks to establish the regulation and licensing of up to 15 offshore casino operators. The Government had received broad community feedback on there being no requirement for licensed online casinos to return a share of their revenue for community funding.

A parliamentary select committee received about 5000 submissions, most of them from grassroots clubs worried about their future funding. Several Catholic schools and organisations made submissions expressing concern.

Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden said she had taken this feedback on board and would be making changes to the bill.

“The message from communities was loud and clear – if we’re regulating online gambling, they want to see benefits flow back to local sports clubs, community groups and grassroots organisations,” she said.

Earlier this month, Ms Van Velden said she had written to Cabinet asking for changes to the Bill. Subsequently, Ms Van Velden said the Coalition would increase the offshore gambling duty from 12 per cent to 16 per cent, with the additional 4 per cent ringfenced for community returns.

Problem gambling prevention and harm minimisation standards were non-negotiable and unchanged, she said.

“Protecting Kiwis from gambling harm is still my number one objective,” she said. “Community funding will not compromise this Government’s commitment to reducing gambling harm.”

The Minister said predicting the exact impact on existing Class 4 (pokies) returns created uncertainty, so Cabinet had agreed on a two-year review after implementing the community returns policy.

FULL STORY

Communities to get a cut from online gambling after backlash (By Anneke Smith/Radio New Zealand)

Community clubs’ victory: Minister agrees to revisit online gambling law (Stuff)