Tauranga City Council has updated its Gambling Venues Policy. Class IV venues are now allowed to relocate away from high-deprivation residential areas. Despite Tauranga’s reputation of affluence, seven of its twenty suburbs are considered to be high-deprivation areas. Almost one-third of Tauranga’s 32 gambling venues are currently in areas classed as “very high deprivation”.
The other two-thirds of Tauranga’s gambling venues are in areas labelled “medium high to very high” on the New Zealand Socioeconomic Deprivation Index (NZSD).
Throughout New Zealand, residential areas with the highest deprivation scores have an over-representation of Maori and Pacific Islander people. Tauranga is no different. The Social Impact Assessment Report that informed the decision-makers noted that this cultural division should be taken into account and responded to in a culturally appropriate way.
Maori and Pacific Islanders are more likely to be harmed by problem gambling. That all of Tauranga’s Class IV gambling venues are in areas where those populations are highest is problematic, according to the Social Impact Assessment. The decision to allow the relocation of gambling venues away from these areas makes sense for this purpose.
“Hard-line gambling opponents see this alteration of the policy as a failure.”
Changes to the Policy
Previously Class IV gambling venues in Tauranga could relocate – but they were not allowed to take their gambling machine licenses with them (except in the case of a natural disaster). Now, venues will be allowed to relocate and keep their pokie machine licenses, but only to zones that are over 100 metres away from residential areas that have a deprivation index of 8 to 10.
According to the NZSD, the deprivation index score of 10 is allocated to households that are the least well-off in society. A score of 1 is the most well-off. All Class IV venues in Tauranga are currently not meeting this new zoning criteria – not that it applies to them. Only venues that move location will need to abide by it. There are 32 venues with 469 slot machines in total in the Tauranga City Council area as of June 2023.
“We are concerned that the changes proposed by the council will not reduce gambling harm in Tauranga,” said a member of the national government health service looking after the greater area that Tauranga sits in. Rachel Jordan of Toi Te Ora is a proponent of the Sinking Lid Policy. This policy prescribes the slow reduction of gambling machine numbers for a variety of reasons, including relocation of a venue.
New Approaches Needed
Despite statistics showing that the Sinking Lid Policy does not reduce the volume of money spent on pokies at a venue, it is still a widely endorsed policy. In areas of New Zealand where machine numbers have reduced, the amount of money being put through pokie machines has usually increased. This has led some to believe that the Sinking Lid Policy ultimately does not reduce the prevalence of problem gambling. Other measures, and novel approaches, are therefore needed to reduce harm to individuals and their communities from problem gambling.
“We [Toi Te Ora] recommend that council strictly enforces its sinking lid policy and does not allow relocation of venues and gambling machines,” Jordan said.
However, akin to the opinion of Porirua’s Councillor Duncan, Commissioner Stephen Selwood believes that gambling venues have been forced to stay in high deprivation areas due to the strong incentive of not losing their machine licenses. Problem gamblers are more likely to live in these areas and are therefore closer to where they can satisfy their addictions.
A representative of the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand agreed with the policy change. Jared True stated that the association believes it will reduce the harm caused by problem gambling.
75% of 250 public submissions by individuals, groups and private interests regarding the policy change agreed to it. Only 14% disapproved. Some suggestions from submissions were included in the ratified council policy change. A notable inclusion was that decision-makers also disallow venues to move close to schools, maraes and religious buildings, along with social and emergency housing.
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