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Statement on revenue from gambling June 2001
THE SURVIVAL GUIDE
Living in Wellington on a low income |
Compassion House, Lukes Lane |
The Board of Downtown Community Ministry decided in June 2001 that it would no longer seek or accept funds raised through the operation of pokie machines or other forms of gambling.
Rationale
There is a wide spread of opinion within DCM about the acceptability of gambling. Some members have strong moral and religious objections, while others accept some forms of gambling. We are all agreed however, that the social costs of gambling are high and that acceptance of income raised through gambling implies an endorsement or even encouragement of the growing dominance of gambling in New Zealand. We wish to see the size of the gambling market in New Zealand constrained, and alternative sources of funding found for the community and voluntary sectors.In our view, gambling is very like alcohol. In moderation, it is regarded by many as a pleasant part of social life. If taken to excess, it can be damaging for the person involved, his or her family and workplaces. Like alcohol, and indeed many recreational or illicit drugs, gambling can become highly addictive. Misuse often results in crime, so the costs to society often flow onto the justice and prison services, health and social services. All forms of gambling are inherently risky, but the so-called continuous games such as pokies pose a greater risk than those used occasionally.
The Government actively intervenes to prevent harm from and minimise the costs of alcohol misuse. In particular, it protects the vulnerable and places considerable responsibility on operators through liquor licensing and host responsibility policies. It should take a similar role in relation to gambling, regulating the behaviour of operators and participants, introducing effective host responsibility programmes, and allowing the community to make decisions about the establishment of gambling operations.
Instead, the New Zealand Government has seemingly embraced gambling as a tool for economic development and revenue raising. Hard-pressed community and voluntary groups have become increasingly dependent on the proceeds of gambling. We are concerned that:
- the less harmful activities such as Lotto have been widely promoted, as has the distribution of proceeds to community, sports, welfare and other groups. This has helped “normalise” the activity within New Zealand society;
- the use of gambling for revenue raising is a particularly unjust form of redistribution, playing as it does on the weak and vulnerable (there is ample research to back this up), and being a very ineffectual tool for economic development;
- The cost of problem gambling is still not well understood or documented. We believe, however, that it is likely to outweigh the benefits of activities funded through its proceeds.
We call upon the Government to regulate the gambling market more rigorously, to stop stimulating the market, and to work towards funding community and social agencies from more acceptable sources.
For our part, we propose to reduce our own dependency on funds from gambling. As noted above, we no longer seek any funding from organisations that run gambling services.
