Press Release
Papakura wins with pokie licence suspension
“The Gambling Commission is to be commended for closing down the Whitehouse Tavern. However, it is very disappointing
that it is not for longer,” says Kataraina Tuhaka, South Auckland community worker for the Problem Gambling Foundation
of New Zealand (PGF).
“The original decision by the Secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs was to suspend the Whitehouse’s operators
licence for one month, which was reduced to seven days when a small amount of the misappropriated funds were recovered.
The Gambling Commission reduced this to four days on appeal. Four days suspension of licence for over $30,000 of misused
funds seems incredibly light,” says Ms Tuhaka.
“There are too many pokies in the Papakura area. Any reduction in numbers, even if it is only for a short period, is
welcome indeed,” says Ms Tuhaka.
“I find it difficult to understand how a trust that has misused a significant amount of community money through
unjustified overseas travel, non-complying grants and unlawful political contributions could get off so lightly,” she
says.
“Papakura is a low-income area that has a lot of gambling-related crime, and there are a lot of our Maori people
gambling. You can really see the effects of it with the increase in food parcels given out to families, children being
left in cars or at home while their parents gamble, and a lot of Maori women on the pokies,” she says.
“Its bad enough that pokies are doing so much harm in our community, but its even worse when those in charge of
distributing profits are abusing their positions of trust.”
Ends
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Eliminating harm caused by gambling
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© 2006 Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand