New Zealand’s Parliament has started oral submissions on the proposed Online Casino Bill, and critics quickly raised alarms about its potential impact. Opponents say the plan to lift the advertising ban would unleash a flood of gambling promotions while also cutting into community funding tied to pokie machine revenue.
Fears of Aggressive Marketing
Martin Cheer, managing director of Pub Charity, told MPs that licensed operators would overwhelm the public with ads if the bill passed.
“There’s going to be a tsunami of promotion. People will be sick of it. If you’re tired of Entain and the TAB on TV, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he warned.
Cheer said push alerts and bonus offers such as “$100 free credit” would become routine. He also dismissed the bill’s geo-blocking provisions, arguing that offshore sites could still be accessed with VPNs. “You cannot stop the ‘worst of the worst’ in that environment,” he said.
Inducements Under Fire
Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Froude said the bill’s failure to restrict inducements was its most dangerous flaw. “Inducements aren’t harmless offers. They exploit impulsivity in young people and pull back those already struggling,” she explained.
She pointed to a case where a woman accepted a “$1000 no deposit bonus” and briefly won NZD $2500, only to discover she needed to wager 40 times before she could withdraw. Critics argue such terms trap players in damaging cycles.
The Foundation pushed for tougher protections, including a full advertising ban and restrictions on credit card gambling similar to rules in the UK and Australia.
Community Funding Concerns
Cheer also argued the bill would divert money away from charities and local groups currently supported by pokies. “It’s just a bad deal. This is not a plan for economic growth, it’s a plan for economic degradation,” he told MPs.
Martin Snedden of the Community Sport Collective warned sports organizations would lose vital pokie funding without any clear replacement. “Unless you give it to us out of the tax take—which I doubt, given the country’s finances—we’re stuck,” he said.
Industry Pushes Back
Not all voices were critical. TAB expressed support, saying it needed a license to protect its betting market. Board member David Bennett noted the rise of online casinos could erode TAB’s community contributions if it stayed on the sidelines. TAB signaled it would likely outsource operations to its current partner Entain.
International operator SGHC also backed the proposal, but called for the license cap to be lifted beyond 15. Senior Vice President Antony Gevisser argued that the bill gave Parliament control over regulation, taxation, and standards. He said SGHC’s harm reduction measures and community contributions showed global firms could operate responsibly in a regulated market.
