...Press Release...
October 24, 2007
 

Super fund - gambling with our retirement
 

The New Zealand Super Fund should sell all of its investments in gambling companies says the Problem Gambling Foundation.

CEO John Stansfield says the fund should be congratulated for ridding itself of tobacco investments and should now turn its attention to other industries that cause harm.

The super fund has over $33 million invested in Sky City Entertainment which owns casinos in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Adelaide.

Mr Stansfield says that good risk assessment processes would show that investment in Skycity was unacceptable on both ethical and financial grounds.

"I don't think New Zealanders want to fund their retirement out of the harm caused to a vulnerable section of the community

"New Zealand's casinos are very dependant on pokie machines which are highly addictive and very profitable at the moment.

"But people are waking up to the harm they do and communities will eventually develop strategies that reduce the damage they do. Gambling businesses are dependant on problem gamblers so when this happens they will take a big hit to their bottom line".

Mr Stansfield says that gambling losses are ruining the retirement of many New Zealand families and having a small percentage of their retirement income generated from casino losses is no compensation for this.

"If you have lost your home and relationship to casino gambling a few dollars a week of  pension payment coming from casino profits does not make up for it.

"By investing in gambling the super fund is exposing our retirement funds to both moral jeopardy and very high financial risk.

"We live in a country full of wonderful people doing productive things the fund could be investing in.

"Like all investors the super fund has a choice of investing in activities that bring community benefit and increase the quality of life for all of us, or investing in the deadly activities of companies that profit from doing harm.

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