Rich getting best of pokie grants

Research on Govt funds-distribution plan shows poorer suburbs that spend the most get least money back

Money tipped into poker machines in the poorest parts of Auckland doesn’t come back to those communities in gaming grants, new data shows.

In contrast, the wealthiest areas gamble far less but take a disproportionate amount of money out of other areas. This has been greeted as proof of a long-stated but neverproven claim about pokies — that the poor get poorer but the rich get richer.

The Auckland Council research is behind a challenge to government plans to ringfence 80 per cent of pokie grant distribution inside large regional areas. Instead, it wants a special system for distributing pokie grants inside Auckland which will allow the poorest areas to benefit from money that is gambled locally.

The research shows the biggest pokie players in Auckland are in the OtaraPapatoetoe area, putting $274 a person into gaming machines.

The area also rates among the highest in the region on the NZ Deprivation Index.

Residents in Orakei, Auckland’s least deprived area, spend $49 each.

Orakei gets a 152 per cent return on money available for gaming grants in its own area — meaning the money returned comes from other areas.

The most successful is the AlbertEden board area, which stretches from Pt Chevalier to Epsom. It gets a 176 per cent return.

The Mangere-Otahuhu area had the worst return — community groups and other worthy projects picked up 22 per cent of the grants money available for distribution.

Overall, the study found all of Auckland missed out to the benefit of the rest of New Zealand.

The $214.6 million put into poker machines would have made $61.6 million available for grants, on industry averages after expenses were taken out. Auckland got $35.2 million.

Auckland Council strategy and policy committee chairman George Wood said the ringfence did not suit the Super City and its “very diverse communities”.

“It’s about getting a better deal and getting more for their communities.”

Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell — the architect of the legislation that resulted in the ringfence — said it was aimed at helping poor communities access gaming grant money in their area.

“The overall intent of the bill I put up is money that comes out of Otara stays in Otara. If it is throwing up that research, we’ll have to look at it again.” Mr Flavell said the legislation had been successful, despite criticisms that the Government had watered it down.

Along with the ringfence, it also forces gaming trusts to increase the amount of money for grants from a minimum 37 per cent of the surplus after expenses to 42 per cent over five years. “I don’t think it’s been a waste of time because we’ve highlighted the issues.”

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said the poorest communities were hit hardest by pokies.

“The fact the richest suburbs in Auckland are taking money from the poorest in Auckland is a disgrace.”

She said successive governments had ignored the impact of pokie harm on communities and she called on ministers to address the findings of the research.

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne, who is responsible for gambling regulation, said the revised Gambling Act, which included the proposed regulations, had yet to be passed by Parliament.

He said the 80 per cent ringfence in regional areas would give “more flexibility” for communities to access grants. It would also allow national organisations to get funding for purposes benefiting specific regions.

HTo read the full report on pokie funding go to tinyurl.com/ nzhpokiereport