Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Loan Shark?

Dr Pita Sharples, Co-leader of the Maori Party

Friday 27 July 2007

Dr Pita Sharples, Member of Parliament for Tamaki Makaurau, has today called the response of the Minister of Internal Affairs to his Department’s reports on the alleged improprieties at Christchurch Casino a ‘whitewash’.

“The Department of Internal Affairs says in its own briefing, that they believe that gambling-related loan sharking does occur in New Zealand’s casinos; that it is often linked to organised crime and money laundering and it facilitates problem gambling” stated Dr Sharples.

“Thirteen days later, the Internal Affairs Minister, Rick Barker issues a release that asks “what is a loan shark”? said Dr Sharples.

“The credibility of yet another Minister is in tatters, if it takes a fortnight for a responsible Minister to identify such a basic question” said Sharples. “And I have to wonder why he didn’t just ask the Ministers of Commerce and Consumer Affairs for a heads-up before he issued his release”

“You have to ask what’s up with Labour if one Minister can’t even pick up the phone and ring another Minister for advice” said Dr Sharples.

Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel and Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard announced on 19 June 2007 a set of new rules which address the influence of loan sharks by requiring all financial service providers to be registered and belong to a dispute resolution scheme.

“Where was Mr Barker when their loan shark policy was being tabled at Cabinet?” asked Dr Sharples.

“The Department’s report also identifies early on, that there have been numerous allegations leading to a call for a public inquiry” said Dr Sharples.

“And how does the Minister respond – he invites people to write him a letter!”

“What he could have done, is to have made a decision and acted to introduce legislation to limit the capability of loan sharks to intimidate casino patrons” said Sharples.

“He could have said, today, that based on yesterday’s damning report he was announcing an independent public inquiry to fully scrutinise any concerns related to the licensing, establishment, management and supervision of casinos”.

“Instead, it appears the Minister is happy to turn away from the problems reported by his own department – including the operation of loan sharks in Casino toilets; prize draw fixing; skimming from gaming machines and any other activities that compromise the integrity or the honesty of the outfit”.

“Research by Dr Wiremu Manaia (Problem Gambling Research Initiative) indicates that Maori are especially vulnerable to gambling problems due to their low socio-economic status” said Dr Sharples.

“What the Department’s report reveals, is that the Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay and Tongan communities are also experiencing gambling harm which should not be ignored”.

“Labour has to come clean and persuade New Zealanders that there is no cover-up about activities going on in our casino” said Dr Sharples. “It smells to me, like something’s rotten in the state of our casinos – and Barker’s Empire is crumbling under his very watch”.

Background

The Department of Internal Affairs describes a loan shark as a “person or entity that offers loans at very high interest rates, typically illicitly and requiring little or no security. Repayment is often enforced by blackmail, or by threats of actual violence.” (2007, p4, para 21)

Ends

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