Pub Charity to appeal High Court decision

MAy 28

Pub Charity to appeal High Court decision on costs of operating gaming machines

Gaming machine society, Pub Charity, today filed papers with the Court of Appeal seeking to reverse a judgment delivered by the High Court earlier this week.

In the High Court Justice Miller found against Pub Charity which had sought judicial relief from a Department of Internal Affairs limit on the expenses which could be claimed for the operation of its gaming machines.

“We have reviewed the decision of the High Court very carefully with our legal team. They have advised us there are substantial grounds for appeal,” said Pub Charity CEO, Ian Bray today.

“We are particularly surprised by the conclusion of the Judge that there can be no reimbursement of a proportion of any costs incurred by the site as a whole in respect of the gaming machine operations. It is an affront to commercial commonsense and is also directly contrary to the views expressed by the Department’s own witnesses.

“All we want is what any other business gets – the right to attribute the legitimate costs of operation against the revenue collected. We believe Justice Miller’s reasoning is flawed and that he has not applied the legislation appropriately.

“The Department’s attempt to impose a one size fits all regime ignores the reality of differential costs faced by different operators and, in our view, flies in the face of the legislation.

“The impact of a limit on the expenses which Pub Charity operators can claim is to limit the opening hours of gaming facilities and that will inevitably lead to reduced disbursements to local community groups.

“Gaming machines are licensed to provide a means of community fund raising for community activities. Gaming machines cost real money to operate. Operators should be able to recover all the real costs of operation, not just some arbitrary figure fixed by bureaucrats in Wellington,” concluded Mr Bray.

ENDS

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