Media statement
Embargoed to 11.30am, Saturday, March 17 2007

Dunne slams 'woolly' solutions

Ohariu-Belmont MP Peter Dunne today slammed 'big government and politically correct bureaucrats' for promoting 'woolly' solutions to problem gambling and drinking, rather than effective answers.

Addressing the Clubs New Zealand annual conference in Lower Hutt, Mr Dunne poured scorn on recent Parliamentary efforts to raise the drinking age.

" There was and remains a problem with young people drinking to excess, but most of that drinking is going on in people's homes – where the drinking age does not apply – so raising the drinking age was never going to resolve the problem.

"But it seemed like the right thing to do, so attracted support on that basis alone.

"Thankfully, commonsense prevailed and the Bill was handily defeated."

Mr Dunne also turned his guns on Ministry of Health efforts to get more funding from the gaming industry for problem gambling.

"The situation now is: we have
• fewer gaming machines;
• no compelling evidence that the level of problem gambling is linked to the number of gaming machines;
• some evidence that problem gambling levels are actually falling;
• lax accountability for problem gambling treatment expenditure.

Yet the Ministry of Health still wants you (the industry) to pay more in the problem gambling levy?

There is a word for that – and it is not commonsense!"

Mr Dunne called on the Government to listen more to the industries involved if it wanted practical solutions to the problems associated with gambling and excessive drinking.

Ends

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