In New Zealand the Green Party has revealed their new gambling policy. They exposed their plans on Gamble Free Day, an initiative of the New Zealand government. This specific day was chosen because of the progressive angle of the gambling plans. One of the main lines of the Green Party is to reduce the harm being done to people by so called “pokie” machines (poker and slot machines).
The CEO of The Problem Gambling Foundation (PGF), Mr Stanfield, stated that he was very pleased with the progressive gambling policy the Green Party announced this week. He let the press know that he was especially satisfied about the perfect timing of the announcement, being on the Gamble Free Day.
There are 3 points that are important in the new policy of the Green Party. The first one is the need for a full study and research about the impact of gambling in New Zealand. They claim this to be highly necessary since there is not much information available about this subject and they believe the public has a right to know how gambling is of influence, especially the bad influences.
Another point is giving back authority to lower government levels, the local communities. This will give the local councils more control in the gambling area, so that important decisions concerning gambling can be made much faster.
Last point is the research that needs to be done on all new forms of gambling and the changes of the already known games. So much has changed in the past few years that the games need to be reviewed and re-licensed. In the future new games should be reviewed before being introduced to the public.
At the moment the PGF is waiting for the announcements of the policies of the other political parties, hoping they will be just as or even more progressive when it comes to the gambling law. Of course, these policies are not likely to have much effect on Australian online gambling even if they become law in New Zealand, as normally it is NZ politicians who look to Australia for inspiration rather than the other way round.
