Last year 49 children under 14 were left unattended by their parents at the casino's central city site, including in its vast underground car park. The figure for 2011 was 42.

The numbers are revealed in the company's Host Responsibility report to the Gambling Commission, outlining operations at the casino for the 12 months to December 31. Continue reading

"The Catholic Church had to come out the next day with a statement saying that was wrong and they were misrepresented," Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said.

It also was not disclosed that Mr Donegan is the electorate chairman for a National MP who is on that select committee, Pesta Sam Lotu-Iiga, National MP for Maungakiekie.

Mr Lotu-Iiga told ONE News he did not disclose this to other members of the committee.

Ms Turei said Mr Lotu-Iiga "should have told the committee that this man was his electorate secretary, and particularly given he misrepresented the submission".

Mr Lotu-Iiga said Mr Donegan probably should have disclosed his electorate role. Continue reading

"If the reading of her bible took place in those times when she was entitled to a break from her work-related duties, her employer's action is clearly an infringement of her personal freedom and gives a negative message about Sky City's views on religious faith to the more than 50% of New Zealanders who are Christians," says Lyndsay Freer.

Read Lyndsay Freer's opinion piece below

In their attempt to ban the carrying of a small bible in an employee's pocket, Sky City learned the hard way that personal freedoms are not to be tampered with.

We New Zealanders take pride in the fact that we live in a democratic society where religious freedom is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Clearly, the carrying of a small Bible in this woman's pocket could not reasonably be regarded as a breach of uniform code if it was there for her own personal use and she was not attempting to enforce her beliefs upon others.

If the reading of her bible took place in those times when she was entitled to a break from her work-related duties, her employer's action is clearly an infringement of her personal freedom and gives a negative message about Sky City's views on religious faith to the more than 50% of New Zealanders who are Christians, as well as to those of the many other religious faiths that make up our society. One might consider it an oxymoron for a casino to take the high moral ground, and might ask just what kind of an employer is Sky City when they can subject a long-time employee of sixteen years service to such embarrassment, anxiety and discrimination.

What will Sky City do next? Forbid staff members to wear a cross, or the Star of David around their neck, or to display some other religious symbol such as the head scarf? And what would be their policy if an employee of the Islamic faith wished to take regular time away from duties to observe the prayer schedules at certain times of the day? As I understand it, under New Zealand law, employers are not permitted to discriminate against the employment of people on grounds of ethnicity, gender or religion. The public outcry over the pocket bible might be a salutary lesson to them.

Lyndsay Freer is a Media Consultant and spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland

Image: Diocese of Auckland

On Wednesday aftenoon, on National Radio, host Jim Mora and his fellow panelists expressed surprise at the amount of support that seemed to exist among the general the public for Sky City's actions.

One of the panelists, Gary McCormack, said, "There is something wrong with it; employment and human relations in the work place should be about individuals."

"New Zealand has become an ideology driven society where bureaucracy is the modern ideology... the individual does not matter any more," he said.

He believes that people's willingness to accept a "more uniform society" is "caused by fear, given the straitened economic times."

"We have got to a pretty sad point in NZ if we start picking on 65 year old ladies clutching bibles," said McCormack.

Tuni Parata, who has worked for Sky City for 16 years, was facing a hearing for possessing non-work related material during work hours after the book was found on a bathroom vanity in the Sky Tower while she was in a cubicle.

Her union, Unite, said she faced dismissal because the act was deemed to be serious misconduct.

The company has since issued a statement saying it regrets how the incident has played out and at no point was it deemed serious misconduct. Tuni Parata has not lost her job.

Sky City spokeswoman Grianne Trout told NBR Online Ms Parata will now be allowed to carry a small bible with her.

"In the past, Tuni did carry a much larger bible, and that just wasn't acceptable because she wasn't able to fit it in her pocket and she had to carry it in her hand.

"The bible she has now is a tiny wee thing that fits in her pocket.

"As long as she doesn't take it out when she's on shifts, we're happy to let her have it on her."

Listen to the discussion on The Panel

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• National Business Review
• Image: Screen Clip TVNZ

Tuni Parata was left stunned after receiving a letter from her SkyCity managers accusing her of misconduct for carrying the Bible on her shifts as a tower host at the casino.

SkyCity says carrying the Bible is a breach of the uniform code.

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