New Zealand’s online casino regulations are continuing to move forward as the Governance and Administration Committee received around 5,000 responses to a consultation on some key points of the bill. The responses included concerns about community returns from gambling revenue. Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden said many people were concerned that more online
New Zealand’s online casino regulations are continuing to move forward as the Governance and Administration Committee received around 5,000 responses to a consultation on some key points of the bill.
The responses included concerns about community returns from gambling revenue. Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden said many people were concerned that more online gambling would affect machine gambling and decrease the funding returned to community groups.
The responders also mentioned that regulated casinos can normalize gambling and lead to more harm.
van Velden said:
“I’ve listened carefully to these concerns. The regulatory settings the bill will put in place are intended to reduce gambling harm first and foremost. This represents a significant improvement from the status quo, where there are no safeguards to protect Kiwis’ gambling online. We will review online casino gambling’s impact on pokies revenue after two years to ensure that community returns are still providing adequate funding for community and sports groups.”
In van Velden’s opinion, the legislation is an important part of bringing online casino gambling under New Zealand law for the first time, as she looks forward to seeing it progress through the House.
It’s also been recommended by the Committee to put the Lottery Grants Board in charge of distributing community returns.