I appreciate the opportunity to be with all of you here today, and I acknowledge the work of everyone in this room, and particularly of Manukau City's Mayor and other elected members and staff who continue to do everythng they can to counter the impact of the proliferation of non casino gaming machines in this community.
I came to this issue myself after long years of working with unemployed people and beneficiaries and other low income people in Auckland and South Auckland through the Peoples Centres, and I know something of the increasing and worsening impacts of the casino economy that has been allowed to develop. I took on the gambling portfolio for the Green Party because of its links to other areas I work in including mental health, social services, unemployment and poverty, and through that, ended up sitting on the Government Administration Select Committee which dealt with the socalled 'Responsible' Gambling Bill.
I don't think it's through any chance or mistake that this somewhat misnamed Bill is going to have the 'Responsible' removed from its title by Government decree. The Green Party at first completely supported the Bill with all its good intentions of, for example, implementing a long moratorium on new casinos and tightening up a whole lot of regulations around non casino gaming machines (pokies).
However, the longer I sat through the submission process and the more I learned about the bill and the gaming industry, the more I and my Green Party colleagues realised that this piece of legislation simply doesn't go far enough in terms of dealing with the depth and breadth of the problems which face us in NZ today. Before the last election we had Phillida Bunkle and the Alliance Party firmly on side on this issue, but with the election and the loss of that party from Parliament, our only allies on gambling now are a number of Labour Party MPs who do keep some of the social conscience which their party has traditionally prided itself on.
I know some of these Labour MPs have worked hard within their own environment to get the same kind of substantial changes to the Bill that we want, but they, like us, have got nowhere - so far. Over the last few months the political issues and tactics have become very clear to us, and I think it's important that we all go away from the meeting here today with clear ideas about common demands and strategies.
It's imperative that those of us who care about what's happening around the Bill take action now, as it could come back before Parliament at any moment from now on, for its Second Reading and Committee Stages.
The Green Party has worked very closely with church and community organisations and with Local Government New Zealand (who work with and represent mayors, councils, and council staff) to try to get changes to the Gambling Bill. It's become increasingly clear to us that while there are a lot of things that could be changed in the Bill, tactically it's important to focus the battle down to two distinct demands, which are:
1)to change the distribution system for the proceeds of non casino gaming machines to one which is publicly accountable and fair, and is capable of making timely, rational decisions on funding at local, regional and national levels.
2)to ensure that all pokie machines and sites are covered by the Bill, not just those licensed after 17 October 2001. In other words, we believe that local councils and local people should be able to have the ultimate say over whether and where pokie parlours are established and maintained in their district, and how many machines there should be, if any.
In order to maximise pressure on the Labour Government we withdrew our support from the Bill so that they would realise how serious we were about trying to achieve these changes. We also began talking to United Future about the possibility of their supporting these amendments but unfortunately their political views have lead them down a different path.
We've been amazed by the strength of the reaction of the gaming lobby to our proposed changes to the Bill, because so far out of all the parties in Parliament it is only the Green Party which is putting them forward. I've had visits from people like Paul East and the NZ Rugby Football Union concerned about the impact of what we're aiming for, particularly on the private pub charities and on sports clubs.
As we keep trying to point out we're not against sport, it's just that we believe the roughly $200 million a year of gambling profits from pokie machines should be taken away from private hands and given to a publicly accountable system where all sports, recreation, arts, culture and community groups could have the chance of receiving funding on an equitable basis, locally and nationally.
In terms of what happens next, I think the most critical thing at this stage is that anyone and any organisation which supports this kaupapa needs to lobby MPs, particularly Labour and United Future ones. It's good to lobby MPs who live in your local area, or with whom you have some common interest or identity such as church, union, womens' groups or other affiliation. All MPs are undergoing a barrage of letters from groups, particularly sports clubs, who are funded by the pub charities, so it is important that MPs hear the other side of the story whether by mail or in person.
I can't stress strongly enough that the time for action is now. We need to shame Labour and United Future with an appeal to their consciences, and it is likely that we are very nearly out of time.
On another note altogether, I invite people here to join me and others at lunchtime today at a picket of a local pokies outlet, the 'Pokies Bar' in Otahuhu, run by a chap called Guy Leonard Smith. Mr Smith not only runs this busy pokies bar in central Otahuhu, he is also the director of Custom Credit, a finance loan company right next door, and of Capri Health Services, which is an exclusive private clinic that provides drug, alcohol and gambling addiction counselling services.
Mr Smith seems to be an astute businessman who has achieved a neat kind of vertical integration whereby takings can be maximised from a number of different facets of gambling. We are holding the picket because we want to shine the light of day on activities a lot of people won't be aware are happening, and because with the Gambling Bill before Parliament we think it's important to do everything we can to expose the harm caused by pokie machines. We must stop the proliferation of the casino ecnomy which drains the lifeblood out of our families and our communities.
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