In New Zealand it seems that a long, hot summer may have caused an average 11% drop in spending on ‘pokies’ throughout the nation. Tighter government controls and more public awareness could have played a part in the fall in revenue from slot machines but great weather will doubtless have encouraged people to spend more time outdoors.

The Department of Internal Affairs has released figures showing that NZ$218.5 million was wagered on the gaming machines in the first three months of 2008, compared to NZ245.3 million in the quarter ending 31 December 2007. It was reported that gambling was down in 68 of the 73 districts. Last year the 20,000 pokies not in casinos became electronically monitored to allow the Department to track operations.

New Zealand’s Gambling Helpline will cease its partnership with the Ministry of Health at the end of October. Negotiations over a new contract have ended with the Helpline saying that the terms offered by the Ministry were too onerous. Tenders will now go out to similar organisations and the Ministry has promised that counselling services will not be disrupted and will still be available for problem gamblers. (E-05.02.08)

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