The New Zealand Gambling Machine Association (GMANZ) has voiced worries about proposed changes to the country’s gambling laws, labeling some of the proposed sections as “unreasonable, illogical, and impractical.”
GMANZ will be present at a High Court session this week to discuss specific parts of the new rules established by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). Three GMANZ members will also be at the session.
The final part of the regulations, designed to minimize potential gambling harm, is set to come into effect in less than two weeks on December 1st.
GMANZ states that it supports effective rules to reduce potential harm. However, the organization has also expressed concerns about several of the clauses in the new regulations. GMANZ adds that these clauses do not address the larger issues in the Class 4 gambling regulatory area.
GMANZ Independent Chair Peter Dungate Trash has specifically criticized the development of the new regulations without “proper” discussion.
“Who is better equipped to identify potential harm than those who work in the venues?” Dungate Trash asked.
A significant number of the suggested rules are merely superficial efforts to reduce harm, or possibly even increase it. These decisions are being made by technical administrators lacking experience in the multi-level entertainment space.
Dengate Thrush highlighted several proposals in his analysis. These proposals include a measure for problematic gambling that could involve players making more than two cash withdrawals at a multi-level venue in a single day. However, since multi-level venues can also be bars and pubs, there is no way to verify where the funds were spent.
“There are substantial difficulties with the practicality of the new regulations, such as the cash withdrawal obligations and the associated gaming area monitoring duties.”
He also criticized a proposal that would mandate staff to record everyone in the gaming area every 20 minutes, including their descriptions for future reference. Dengate Thrush stated that this could involve 20 individuals per hour, 12 or 14 hours of operation per day, three times an hour. He added that this would lead to 720 records per day, or approximately 250,000 per year.
“Staff must perform this task while serving drinks, cleaning, monitoring intoxication and all other responsibilities that accountable venue operators need to fulfill,” he stated. “Our venue operators believe this is impractical. We have brought these concerns to the DIA directly on numerous occasions, through workshops and online seminars, and they are completely unwilling to listen to us.”
GMANZ: DIA unresponsive to concerns
New Zealand regulatory body criticized
David Truesdale, the head of the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand (GMANZ), has taken aim at the country’s industry overseer. He stated that shortcomings in the rules reflect a larger, more widespread issue, that overseers “are not meeting their obligations.”
He said: “The new rules do not take into account the realities faced by Class 4 locations and their front-line personnel in reducing gambling harm.” “The overseer seems to have disregarded the industry’s input and instead developed rules that don’t work to justify their existence.”
“We want bad actors in the industry who break the rules to be prosecuted, just like anyone else. But this style of regulation is not good enough for this industry – our front-line staff deserve better.”
Truesdale went on to say that GMANZ is eager to see problem gambling taxes used for training and investing in technology to reduce gambling harm. This includes facial recognition technology to provide additional protection and support.
Truesdale said: “The whole industry’s goal is to reduce known harms and support those who need help.”
“None of our members want anyone to be harmed. We want any host who is not seriously fulfilling their responsibilities to be penalized, and those who don’t follow the process will face prosecution. These rules could make things worse.”
“We need the Ministry of Internal Affairs to listen to us seriously, because we are an important part of the system.”
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