"People experiencing harm from gambling often feel ashamed and stigmatised, and try to hide their situation, making it even less visible to others," says Lisa Campbell, national operations manager of Oasis.

"We want to emphasise that gambling harm is a recognised health issue in Aotearoa New Zealand and that the addictive nature of gambling means it is challenging to control and/or stop gambling on your own.

"Help is available from The Salvation Army Oasis and other specialist gambling harm services across the country," says Ms Campbell, "where the impacts from harmful gambling can be successfully addressed with counselling support, education and other tools like self-exclusion."

The Salvation Army Oasis is marking the week with a range of activities, including a poster campaign and an online quiz about gambling harm. Read more

Department of Internal Affairs has launched a probe to discover what it should do about gambling websites. In August, DIA released a discussion document presenting four options, as well as a set of "add-ons". Read more

In an interview on RNZ's Nine to Noon programme on Monday, he said the profits from gambling are distributed to NGOs and various community organisations including sporting groups and church groups.

"So the very groups that would be the critics and conscious that would raise concerns about this [damaged caused by addictive gambling] are also addicted to it because they depend on them for revenue.

And it's very difficult to find alternative sources of revenue," he said.

As a remedy, Abbott suggests something along the lines of what was done when tobacco company sponsorship of sport was banned.

When this happened a fund was set up to compensate groups who lost tobacco company sponsorship.

Abbott is the director of the Gambling and Addictions Research Centre based in the Auckland University of technology.

The research is funded by the Ministry of Health.

On Monday the centre released The latest National Gambling Study (NGS)

In a press release announcing, the publication of the study Abbott says that the number of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in pubs and clubs has declined.

But the rates of harm they cause have not fallen.

Abbott thinks EGMs should be removed from all clubs and pubs.

As thing stand they remain heavily concentrated in high deprivation communities.

He considers it likely that the combination of deprivation and high exposure to EGMs contributes to persistent ethnic differences in gambling-related health and social problems.

The report also notes an accumulating pool of past problem gamblers are relapsing over time and are being joined by first-time problem gamblers from high deprivation groups and neighbourhoods.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• scoop.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz /Kirk Hargreaves

In days gone by, for many families, a lunch at the local club wasn't complete until the adult diners had lightened their pockets with a flutter on the pokies.

Affectionately known as "one-armed bandits", the mechanical devices devoured spare change of any size and occasionally rewarded players when a bunch of coins clattered back into the tray.

These days, poker machines are an entirely different beast. And an unsuspecting Australian public is far worse off because of it.

Australia is home to 20% of the world's poker machines, and the Australian Government estimates that 600,000 people play the pokies every week, with 40% of them addicted.

Whereas the old-style pokies had winning odds of about one in 8000, their modern electronic counterparts often only cough up a major prize once in every 10 million - or more - hits.

The repercussions of problem gambling

Australians lose more money per capita to gambling than any other nationality in the world, says The Economist, with $20 billion dollars going down the gambling gurgler every year. Of that, $11 billion is swallowed up by poker machines.

If losing all of that money isn't enough of a problem, gamblers and their families lose in many other ways as well: the Australian Gambling Research Centre says that gambling problems affect a gambler's intimate relationships with partners, children, parents, siblings and grandparents.

Research has also identified an association between problem gambling and the rate of family violence, and has also shown that the children of parents who have a gambling problem are at a much higher risk of becoming problem gamblers themselves.

To top things off, local businesses miss out on much-needed revenue when it is instead being fed to electronic machines in large clubs and gaming venues. Continue reading

Sources

• Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, social justice law firm article in The Guardian
• Image: The Guardian

In its original form, the Bill would have required gaming machine proceeds to be solely distributed locally.

It would also have forced machine operators to track players and provide pre-paid cards.

But these provisions were scrapped during the select-committee stage, to ensure the Government would support the bill.

The Justice & Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland has expressed deep concern that the original version of the Bill has not been passed by Parliament.

The Commission considers that unless the Government follows through with effective regulations to replace important parts of the bill that were removed in the Committee stage, then this law will not live up to its title.

"We understand the Government intends to consult with industry and community stakeholders before making regulations."

"The Commission calls on the Government to keep as a paramount consideration promotion of the common good, bearing in mind the hundreds of millions lost in machine gambling each year, mostly in our poorest towns and suburbs."

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• Auckland Catholic Justice & Peace Commission
• Image: Family First

Whether Pacific people gambled was largely influenced by their church, and whether the denomination endorsed gambling or not, researchers found.

Additionally, the study found that New Zealand offered more gambling opportunities and more free time than Pacific countries, and many study participants viewed gambling as an easy way to make money.

The study, commissioned by the Ministry of Health and carried out by AUT University, found a lack of gambling opportunities in Pacific Island countries, as well as cultural and religious views, influenced people's attitudes and behaviour.

About 100,000 of New Zealand's 4.3 million residents is a problem gambler and Pacific islanders are the most at-risk ethnic group to develop problem or pathological gambling behaviours. Pasifika peoples are four times more likely to be a problem gambler than any other ethnic group.

Source

• TVNZ
• Island Business
• Image: teachingamsam

The National Radio report said that a commissioner with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church, Seamus Donegan, told the New Zealand International Convention Centre Select Committee he would rather see people gamble at the SkyCity casino, where problem gambling is monitored, than at racetracks and pubs.

Garrick said Donegan, "was speaking to the Select Committee today in his capacity as Convenor of the Social Hazards Committee of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland. He is not a spokesperson for the Catholic Church and did not describe or introduce himself as such."

"Some of the views reported as being expressed by Seamus Donegan are not those of the Justice and Peace Commission or the Catholic church," he said.

" It is true that Catholic church teaching is that games of chance are not in themselves contrary to justice BUT games of chance are morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for their needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement."

• Because the situation in Auckland is that some families with problem gamblers are being deprived of what is needed for food, rent, medical help and other necessities, problem gambling is of deep concern, as is the availability of gambling venues and any proposed increase in gambling opportunities;
• The Commission does not take a position that gambling at one venue over another is preferred;
• One of the main concerns of this submission was our strong objection to the automatic extension of the Sky City licence:

"In summary the potential for gambling harm is being increased and the opportunity to study the extent of that harm and test whether the casino is a net benefit is being put off for 27 years."

Written Submission:

This submission is made by the Social Hazards Committee of the Justice & Peace Commission for the Auckland Diocese of the Catholic Church ("the Committee")

The Catholic Church does not regard gambling per se as morally wrong. Provided those involved are playing with stakes that do not eat into money needed to discharge their responsibilities to themselves and others, gambling is an acceptable form of recreation.

However when people gamble to excess, that is to say, gamble with money that is needed for other purposes, it becomes morally wrong. People who become so obsessed by gambling that they are unable to prevent themselves form gambling with funds required to support themselves and others dependent on them or to meet their financial obligations are problem gamblers. It is also morally wrong for any organisations to knowingly exploit people with a gambling problem. These organisations have an obligation to the community in which they do business to identify and assist those patrons of their facility who have a ‘gambling problem'.

The potential for harm from gambling has long since been recognised by governments in New Zealand and safeguards have been built into New Zealand Law. In this regard Governments have always had to balance:

(a) Freedom of the public to engage in a legitimate form of recreation;

(b) Freedom for enterprises involved in gambling to engage in an activity that is considered legitimate;

(c) Achieving the economic benefits from having casinos, race tracks etc;

(d) Avoiding or reducing as far as practicable, the harmful effects of ‘problem gambling'.

Increase in the number of Automated Gambling Machines.

The Committee does not regard increase in the absolute number of machines as particularly significant as it apprehends that that the number of people in the casino currently never exceeds the number of machines available and therefore an increase in the number of machines does not automatically cause an increase in machine gambling.

Concessions that may exacerbate problem gambling

The Committee considers that there are features of the regulatory concessions which have the potential to exacerbate the harmful effects of problem gambling, which ‘enable' problem gambling:

1. A concession allowing 17% of single terminal gaming machines (i.e. ‘pokie' machines) and automated multi player tables (e.g. computerised roulette & black jack tables) accepting $100 notes (currently restricted to $20)("plus $20 concession")
2. Introduction of ticket in ticket out technology and card based cashless gambling with stored value limits of $1,000.00. ("TITO concession")

What these concessions achieve is eliminating ‘breaks' in machine gambling and disconnecting cash from the gambling process. This directly enables problem gamblers, eliminating tools for habit control.

At present it is not possible to measure what the effects of these concessions will be.

Extension of the Venue License to 2048

The Catholic Church also teaches that a function of government is to pursue the common good, which in the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II refers to:

"the good of all and of each individual, because we are all responsible for all".

The common good includes promoting our economic well being, which comes from job creation including that driven by tourist spending. The common good also includes protecting people in our community who have gambling problems from causing harm to themselves and those who are affected by their problem including, their families, their employers, and their creditors and the potential victims of crime driven by gambling addictions.

From the beginning of New Zealand's legal casino regime, successive governments have sort a achieve a ‘net benefit' for the community by striking the right balance between allowing the tourism/job benefits of casinos and minimising the harm of problem gambling. The 2003 Act recognised that checking the balance is right and the net benefit has been realised, was built into the licensing regime. The sky City venue license runs for 25 years and currently expires in 2021. To obtain a renewal, the current act requires sky city to apply for a renewal this will involve:

(a) The production of an independent impact report (to be paid for by Sky City);

(b) The involvement of local government, including possibly conducting a regional poll or referendum on whether the Casino should continue; and

(c) A public hearing process.

The Bill extends the license to 2048. If the bill is passed in its current form, Sky City will avoid renewal applications in 2021 and 2036. ("the License Extension")

In summary the potential for gambling harm is being increased and the opportunity to study the extent of that harm and test whether the casino is a net benefit is being put off for 27 years.

Our position

Providing employment is a social good and our Committee do not think it is desirable to stop the construction of the Convention Centre.

If the real trade off here is to increase the potential for gambling harm through regulatory concessions in exchange for the benefits of a Convention Centre, that can only be justified if a net benefit is achieved. The Government is morally obligated to Aucklanders to test that this benefit has been achieved. It can best do this by:

(a) keeping the license renewal dates

(b) stipulating that the independent impact report must give appropriate weight to the convention centre in determining whether the ‘net benefit' is achieved.

A more appropriate concession would be to define the venue for the purposes of renewal of the license to include not only the casino but also all ancillary activities of Sky City including the convention centre.

If the level of ‘harm' caused by problem gambling (including harm driven by the regulatory concessions now proposed) does not outweigh the benefits of the Casino and the Convention Centre, which by 2021, could be measured the license ought to be renewed, if not then the regulatory concessions identified above should be revoked.

Making the concessions identified above and avoiding any study of their effects and renewal process for the license is not consistent with the government's obligations to the community.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• The Catholic Diocese of Auckland
• Auckland Catholic Justice and Peace Commission
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

It ripped the machines out of its Thompson Park clubrooms and turned its back on trust grants.

"A lot of the parents can't buy boots for their kids. They are saying they haven't got the money, and that they can't get them to the games because they can't get money for petrol," club chairman Dean Kini said.

"All those problems are associated with gambling and drinking. I didn't want to be a part of the problem." Continue reading

Once those debts are paid off, all gambling would be outlawed, the bill states.

The Catholic Church on Guam said its main concern about gambling is the effect it will have on the island's society and its families.

"When people lose money ... many problems occur," said Father Adrian Cristobal.

Cristobal said the Catholic Church is strongly against gambling, having banned bingo and raffles in the church and Catholic private schools.

Cristobal declined to comment when asked what should happen to local nonprofit groups that benefit from gambling revenue.

Cristobal said he is in not in a position to make a statement on behalf of the Catholic Church with regard to the nonprofit issue.

Source

• guampdm.com
• guampdm.com

"Gambling is optional. It is a matter of a person's choice," he said.

"There is no specific teachings of the [Catholic] church with regards to gambling," says Father Ioane. "There are other forms of gambling which members of the church use for fundraising purposes like bingo for instance.

"As far as we're concerned, there are no teachings of the Catholic Church against gambling. There is no specific teaching that the Catholic Church is against gambling."

Last year, senior Catholic Deacon Kasiano Le'aupepe, speaking in his role of head of the the National Council of Churches (NCC), said "The love of money and the casinos will only drive people further into poverty," he warned. "People will start to save money to play in the casinos instead of feeding their families.

"The addiction will become too much; it will result in crime as people start stealing to fuel their addiction. Gambling opens the door to the influx of outsiders who have no fear for God."

Source

• Samoa Observer
• Image: pokies-casinos.com

A Curia poll found support from 87 per cent of respondents as lawmakers prepare to set new rules governing the availability of poker machines.

Across the Auckland region there are 4,183 pokie machines at 305 different venues. In 2011, $245 million dollars was lost on them.

Problem gambling figures suggest that around 40% of that money came from problem gamblers who are usually those who can least afford it.

Opposition to gambling venues has also been revealed in the more than 9,500 submissions received on Auckland Council's proposed policies on TAB and pokie venues.

The council aims to set policies for non-casino pokie venues, with 4069 gambling machines in pubs and clubs across the city.

Local governments are obliged by law to set policies and the new policy was the first chance to have a unified approach across Auckland.

"It's great to see so many people taking the time to make their views known on the subject of gambling," says Councillor Cathy Casey, Chair of the council's Social and Community Development Forum.

"We identified the need to minimise gambling-related harm in the Auckland Plan. These two policies are a way we can achieve that. It is clear from the number of submissions that our communities care very much about gambling in Auckland."

Problem Gambling Foundation national health manager Tony Milne said a sinking-lid policy would stop licences to run pokies being transferred from bars and clubs which closed. "The most powerful submissions come from people who have experienced the harm from pokie machines with accounts of lives … torn apart by pokie machines."

Source

• NZsport.yahoo.com
• The New Zealand Herald
• blog.greens.org.nz
• bobmccroskie.com
• Image: 3News

Bishop Jones expressed "disappointment" that his once-trusted priest had been jailed, having pleaded to the court for him to receive home detention.

He was also saddened to lose the services of "a very able and gifted" priest.

"His offending has caused great scandal - he had a very high reputation amongst people and people were very shocked to hear this had happened."

"But he's exercised an excellent ministry for over 30 years, and now we don't have that from him anymore."

The church will continue to support him through his "turmoil", and after counselling, he expected Father Fitzmaurice to come out of prison "stronger".

They had paid his living costs, covered his legal fees and counselling costs, and since the convicted fraudster had no assets or any savings were realistic that he couldn't pay any reparation.

But Bishop Jones said: "Some kind of symbolic reparation when he's in a position to do so... we'd expect that."

Crown prosecutor Marcus Zintl said it had cost the church $31,000 in investigation fees to uncover Fitzmaurice's offending. Reparation of $149,000 was sought but the church was realistic in acknowledging Fitzmaurice's inability to pay.

Zintl said the offending involved 735 separate acts of dishonesty. It was highly calculated and premeditated offending.

"The offender was a man of faith, but the very faith that was placed in him by the Catholic church and the community, he has betrayed."

Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton told the judge: "He stands before you for sentencing truly ashamed and deeply remorseful for the harm he has caused."

Eaton said Fitzmaurice was aware of the breach of trust towards the bishop, the church, parishioners, family, and friends.

He said said a report described the offending as "a spiralling vocational and emotional meltdown over several years".

He said Fitzmaurice, who had entered the seminary at 17 and became a priest at 23, could still work for the church he had devoted his life to.

While he could never work in Christchurch again, Eaton said an "olive branch" had been extended by the Bishop of Auckland.

Eaton also indicated they would be challenging the sentence and applying for Father Fitzmaurice's release on bail pending the hearing of an appeal.

Source

• NewsTalkZB
• New Zealand Herald
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: 3News

The Auditor-General's report into the Government's handling of the SkyCity deal revealed the promotional incentive was sought by the casino in September 2010. However, the Government has ruled out the annual payment.

The 2009 feasibility study into the convention centre raised the likelihood of a "subvention fee", saying "a new venue would need a sufficient sales and marketing budget to develop appropriate subvention policies to attract conferences".

It added: "Subvention [incentive] policies recognise the economic value of conferences to host destinations."

The negotiators for the casino also wanted the Government to buy land owned by TVNZ after the size of the planned convention centre expanded in line with the Prime Minister's demand they "think outside the box".

A 1999 National Survey in New Zealand showed that New Zealand Catholics reported a higher average weekly gambling expenditure than other religious groups. The survey carried out by Abbott and Volberg noted that Protestant denomination historically have a strong moral stance against gambling and lobbied for legislative and other restrictions on gambling throughout the mid 19th and 20th centuries.

The same survey reported that half the problem gamblers were of Maori, Pacific or Asian ethnicity.

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• 1877mylimit.org
• Image: MSN news

He committed the fraud while he was the parish priest at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and at Addington's Sacred Heart Parish.

The charges relate to his using 242 cheques drawn on the Catholic Cathedral Parish and Addington Parish accounts, which were either cashed or paid into his account.

He also admitted dishonestly making 358 automatic teller withdrawals totalling $54,430.

Fitzmaurice was suspended by Bishop Barry Jones in September 2011.

What he did with all the money remains unclear, but on Monday the Bishop of Christchurch Barry Jones told The Press : "I understand there was gambling involved."

Judge Jane Farish remanded Fitzmaurice on bail for sentencing on February 27.

She called for a pre-sentence report and a report on his suitability for home detention, and his ability to pay reparations to the church.

Source

• The Press
• The Press
• Image: AnglicansAblaze

These figures were provided to Fairfax Media by Internal Affairs under the Official Information Act.

In the latest incident 5 children whose ages ranged from 5 months to 8 years were allegedly found alone in a van in the SkyCity car park around 11am on a Sunday February 26. The parents of the children were in the Casino. They have been charged in connection with the incident and will appear in court in May.

The Statistics provided by Internal Affairs show that in the same 3 year period there have been:

• 20 assaults,
• 40 incidents of cheating,
• 15 of using counterfeit currency,
• 161 case of fraud, and 15 of loan sharking
• 23 incidences of breaching minimum operating standards,\
• 265 trespasses by barred people
• 14 incidents of money laundering

SkyCity chief executive Nigel Morrison says Lotto does more harm to society than its Auckland casino.

He also says SkyCity's desired increase in machines won't result in more problem gambling, because Auckland's public transport system makes getting to the casino problematic.

Professor Max Abbott, director of AUT University's Gambling and Addictions Research Centre says claim that SkyCity poker machines are less harmful than Lotto tickets does not stack up.

"The most recent Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Survey found 99.5 percent of problem gamblers participated in a form of gambling other than, or additional to, Lotto. Only 0.5 percent of problem gamblers engaged in Lotto alone," he says.

"Furthermore, during the past two years, nearly 200 problem gamblers seeking help from the national gambling helpline (for the first time) reported that casino gaming machines were their primary gambling mode. A further 150 or so, said casino machines were their secondary mode. During this period only six people said they had a primary problem with Lotto and 21 said Lotto was secondary."

"These facts and similar results for the 12,090 people who obtained specialist face-to-face problem gambling treatment services last year clearly indicate that casino pokies are a much greater health and social hazard than Lotto," says Professor Abbott. "Very few weekly Lotto players have gambling problems. Nearly one in five weekly pokie players do."

According to Professor Abbott, Morisson's further claim that "those at risk were not casino customers but ‘mums in South Auckland' who were shopping in communities where there were pokie machines at clubs and pubs" is also incorrect.

Source

• Auckland Scoop
• Auckland Now
• TV3
• Image: MSN News