Pokie Numbers Under Control

The NZ Coalition for Gambling Reform’s hysterical claims about the increase in pokie numbers once again fails to give the full picture, says the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand (GMANZ).

GMANZ Chairman, Garry Ward, says the number of pokie machines allowed on new sites, backdated to October 2001, will be restricted to 9 if the Responsible Gambling Bill get passed into law.

Additionally, Ward says while there are 24,330 licensed machines in New Zealand, 2,400 of those are in storage and there are only 21,913 actually in operation. “As well as machines in storage, 580 machines will have to be removed once the new legislation comes in”, he says

“There are 19 Countries with a higher number of machines per capita than New Zealand, so we are well down the list in terms of machine penetration per head of population.”

“New Zealand is also one of the few countries in the world that gives pokie profits to the community. At over $200 million, the pokies contribute twice as much as LOTTO does to the community”.

© Scoop Media