Pokies push

Outrage at SkyCity’s quiet expansion bid

With high-rolling tourist punters shut out of New Zealand, SkyCity casinos wants the right to close its roulette, blackjack and poker tables and operate only pokie machines because of a huge Covid-19-driven drop in revenue.

It has dismayed problem gambling advocates, while one pokie industry source said the move would turn SkyCity’s casinos into ‘‘giant pokie dens’’ – but without the community grants generated by pub pokie machines.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a casino as a ‘‘building where games, especially roulette and card games are played for money’’, but there’s no legal definition, which means the Gambling Commission can allow the move if they wish.

The commission has promised public consultation before making a decision – but it has already made a hurried and quiet decision to give temporary permission for SkyCity to halt table games in their Hamilton and Queenstown casinos until level 1 restrictions end.

That move has been called ‘‘absolute incompetence’’ by Problem Gambling Foundation chief executive Paula Snowden, who found out about the decision only by chance.

She said that given pokies are the most addictive form of gambling, to allow SkyCity to focus on them was a decision which showed ‘‘flagrant disregard’’ for the Gambling Act, which directs regulators to minimise public harm.

Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate didn’t know about the decision. Her council has a policy capping the number of pokies in the city and is opposing a separate SkyCity move to be allowed another 60 machines in the city’s casino. ‘‘This process just doesn’t sit well with me … we should have had the opportunity to express a view,’’ she said. ‘‘I am disappointed council wasn’t given that opportunity.’’

The commission permitted SkyCity to make the changes on May 6. But it did not publish the decision online until May 20, and did not alert the usual interested parties, such as Problem Gambling.

‘‘You could say this is deep, dark and mysterious, or just absolute incompetence – but it’s one of the two,’’ said Snowden.

In its decision, the commission said it had moved quickly because

SkyCity expected a ‘‘vastlydifferent environment’’ and in ‘‘the short to medium term, it will need to operate more flexibly in what is likely to be a softer and evolving market’’.

But SkyCity spokeswoman Kate Gourdie said the casino giant expected customers would ‘‘return to normal patterns of play’’ when the environment allowed.

Snowden essayed a blistering attack on the commission, saying it routinely ignored evidence about the harm caused by pokies and the need to limit them.

‘‘Our issue isn’t with SkyCity – it’s with the decision making processes of the Gambling Commission … [the decision] is not in New Zealand’s public health interests at all – it’s in SkyCity shareholders’ interests.’’

She said the commission often took the ‘‘path of least resistance’’ because it was afraid of expensive legal challenges to its decisions.

Gambling Commission executive director Blair Cairncross refused to respond to Snowden’s criticisms, or explain why it had neither consulted on the decision nor publicised it. He said it would ‘‘consult widely’’ on the application to revoke Condition 8, including inviting public submissions. He said ‘‘it is not appropriate’’ for the commission to comment further.

SkyCity’s Gourdie gave a statement saying the Hamilton and Queenstown exemption ‘‘provides operational flexibility in the uncertain environment arising from the Covid-19 crisis’’. She said it had not yet been required in Hamilton, but ‘‘has been helpful in Queenstown’’.

Asked if SkyCity could still call itself a casino without table games, she said the law did not require operators to ‘‘offer particular products’’.

Mike Knell, acting chairman of the Gaming Machine Association, which represents the pokie trusts, said at first glance it would seem fair to compel SkyCity to operate under the same conditions as his members if it only operated pokies – which would include community grants.

One gaming industry source said the decision had gone ‘‘under the radar and should have been publicly discussed’’ and believed it was part of a plan by SkyCity to become big pokie halls without limits on bet size or rules on community return.

The source said that, after GST, every $1000 lost on a pub pokie generated about $450 in donations and $230 in tax, while the same $1000 lost on a casino pokie returned $6 in donations and $100 in tax.

Snowden has written to the prime minister and ministers asking if they could exercise any influence on the commission’s decisions.