NEWS RELEASE
15 April, 2003
Pokies Money Is Fairly Distributed
The anti-gaming lobby is being nit-picky in its claims that the profits from pokies go mainly to male sports codes,
according to the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand (GMANZ).
Chairman of GMANZ, Garry Ward, says one of the largest national trusts allocates 48% of their funding to community
groups, 26% to sports groups, 14% to education, 5% to youth groups, 3% to Kindergartens and pre-school groups, 1.7% to
health groups and 1% to fire and ambulance groups.
“Each trust must be true to its reason for being established and that forms part of the condition of their licence and
their tax-exempt status. If the trust has a community focus, as in the example given above, then that is where they
allocate most of their funds.”
“While there are many trusts that have been incorporated with the intention of promoting amateur sport in their local
community, that is surely a good thing. Playing sport and belonging to sports clubs is part of the social fabric of New
Zealand society. In a world where obesity is going to be the number one health problem, with huge social and economic
implications, we should be doing everything we can to foster a culture of fitness in New Zealand.”
“Joining a local sports club is surely better for children than being glued to TV’s or computer screens all the time.”
Ward says if those in the arts (or any community area that feels they are not getting enough funding) are motivated to
access the funds from pokies, there is nothing stopping them forming their own trusts and operating pokies machines to
put the profits primarily into their choice of sector.
ENDS