"The Catholic Church had to come out the next day with a statement saying that was wrong and they were misrepresented," Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said.

It also was not disclosed that Mr Donegan is the electorate chairman for a National MP who is on that select committee, Pesta Sam Lotu-Iiga, National MP for Maungakiekie.

Mr Lotu-Iiga told ONE News he did not disclose this to other members of the committee.

Ms Turei said Mr Lotu-Iiga "should have told the committee that this man was his electorate secretary, and particularly given he misrepresented the submission".

Mr Lotu-Iiga said Mr Donegan probably should have disclosed his electorate role. Continue reading

SkyCity is to build a $402 million centre in central Auckland in exchange for an extension of its casino license and being allowed to operate more gaming machines and tables.

The bill allowing the deal to go ahead passed its first reading last month and is now before a select committee. Continue Reading

In its original form, the Bill would have required gaming machine proceeds to be solely distributed locally.

It would also have forced machine operators to track players and provide pre-paid cards.

But these provisions were scrapped during the select-committee stage, to ensure the Government would support the bill.

The Justice & Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland has expressed deep concern that the original version of the Bill has not been passed by Parliament.

The Commission considers that unless the Government follows through with effective regulations to replace important parts of the bill that were removed in the Committee stage, then this law will not live up to its title.

"We understand the Government intends to consult with industry and community stakeholders before making regulations."

"The Commission calls on the Government to keep as a paramount consideration promotion of the common good, bearing in mind the hundreds of millions lost in machine gambling each year, mostly in our poorest towns and suburbs."

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• Auckland Catholic Justice & Peace Commission
• Image: Family First

The National Radio report said that a commissioner with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church, Seamus Donegan, told the New Zealand International Convention Centre Select Committee he would rather see people gamble at the SkyCity casino, where problem gambling is monitored, than at racetracks and pubs.

Garrick said Donegan, "was speaking to the Select Committee today in his capacity as Convenor of the Social Hazards Committee of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland. He is not a spokesperson for the Catholic Church and did not describe or introduce himself as such."

"Some of the views reported as being expressed by Seamus Donegan are not those of the Justice and Peace Commission or the Catholic church," he said.

" It is true that Catholic church teaching is that games of chance are not in themselves contrary to justice BUT games of chance are morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for their needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement."

• Because the situation in Auckland is that some families with problem gamblers are being deprived of what is needed for food, rent, medical help and other necessities, problem gambling is of deep concern, as is the availability of gambling venues and any proposed increase in gambling opportunities;
• The Commission does not take a position that gambling at one venue over another is preferred;
• One of the main concerns of this submission was our strong objection to the automatic extension of the Sky City licence:

"In summary the potential for gambling harm is being increased and the opportunity to study the extent of that harm and test whether the casino is a net benefit is being put off for 27 years."

Written Submission:

This submission is made by the Social Hazards Committee of the Justice & Peace Commission for the Auckland Diocese of the Catholic Church ("the Committee")

The Catholic Church does not regard gambling per se as morally wrong. Provided those involved are playing with stakes that do not eat into money needed to discharge their responsibilities to themselves and others, gambling is an acceptable form of recreation.

However when people gamble to excess, that is to say, gamble with money that is needed for other purposes, it becomes morally wrong. People who become so obsessed by gambling that they are unable to prevent themselves form gambling with funds required to support themselves and others dependent on them or to meet their financial obligations are problem gamblers. It is also morally wrong for any organisations to knowingly exploit people with a gambling problem. These organisations have an obligation to the community in which they do business to identify and assist those patrons of their facility who have a ‘gambling problem'.

The potential for harm from gambling has long since been recognised by governments in New Zealand and safeguards have been built into New Zealand Law. In this regard Governments have always had to balance:

(a) Freedom of the public to engage in a legitimate form of recreation;

(b) Freedom for enterprises involved in gambling to engage in an activity that is considered legitimate;

(c) Achieving the economic benefits from having casinos, race tracks etc;

(d) Avoiding or reducing as far as practicable, the harmful effects of ‘problem gambling'.

Increase in the number of Automated Gambling Machines.

The Committee does not regard increase in the absolute number of machines as particularly significant as it apprehends that that the number of people in the casino currently never exceeds the number of machines available and therefore an increase in the number of machines does not automatically cause an increase in machine gambling.

Concessions that may exacerbate problem gambling

The Committee considers that there are features of the regulatory concessions which have the potential to exacerbate the harmful effects of problem gambling, which ‘enable' problem gambling:

1. A concession allowing 17% of single terminal gaming machines (i.e. ‘pokie' machines) and automated multi player tables (e.g. computerised roulette & black jack tables) accepting $100 notes (currently restricted to $20)("plus $20 concession")
2. Introduction of ticket in ticket out technology and card based cashless gambling with stored value limits of $1,000.00. ("TITO concession")

What these concessions achieve is eliminating ‘breaks' in machine gambling and disconnecting cash from the gambling process. This directly enables problem gamblers, eliminating tools for habit control.

At present it is not possible to measure what the effects of these concessions will be.

Extension of the Venue License to 2048

The Catholic Church also teaches that a function of government is to pursue the common good, which in the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II refers to:

"the good of all and of each individual, because we are all responsible for all".

The common good includes promoting our economic well being, which comes from job creation including that driven by tourist spending. The common good also includes protecting people in our community who have gambling problems from causing harm to themselves and those who are affected by their problem including, their families, their employers, and their creditors and the potential victims of crime driven by gambling addictions.

From the beginning of New Zealand's legal casino regime, successive governments have sort a achieve a ‘net benefit' for the community by striking the right balance between allowing the tourism/job benefits of casinos and minimising the harm of problem gambling. The 2003 Act recognised that checking the balance is right and the net benefit has been realised, was built into the licensing regime. The sky City venue license runs for 25 years and currently expires in 2021. To obtain a renewal, the current act requires sky city to apply for a renewal this will involve:

(a) The production of an independent impact report (to be paid for by Sky City);

(b) The involvement of local government, including possibly conducting a regional poll or referendum on whether the Casino should continue; and

(c) A public hearing process.

The Bill extends the license to 2048. If the bill is passed in its current form, Sky City will avoid renewal applications in 2021 and 2036. ("the License Extension")

In summary the potential for gambling harm is being increased and the opportunity to study the extent of that harm and test whether the casino is a net benefit is being put off for 27 years.

Our position

Providing employment is a social good and our Committee do not think it is desirable to stop the construction of the Convention Centre.

If the real trade off here is to increase the potential for gambling harm through regulatory concessions in exchange for the benefits of a Convention Centre, that can only be justified if a net benefit is achieved. The Government is morally obligated to Aucklanders to test that this benefit has been achieved. It can best do this by:

(a) keeping the license renewal dates

(b) stipulating that the independent impact report must give appropriate weight to the convention centre in determining whether the ‘net benefit' is achieved.

A more appropriate concession would be to define the venue for the purposes of renewal of the license to include not only the casino but also all ancillary activities of Sky City including the convention centre.

If the level of ‘harm' caused by problem gambling (including harm driven by the regulatory concessions now proposed) does not outweigh the benefits of the Casino and the Convention Centre, which by 2021, could be measured the license ought to be renewed, if not then the regulatory concessions identified above should be revoked.

Making the concessions identified above and avoiding any study of their effects and renewal process for the license is not consistent with the government's obligations to the community.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• The Catholic Diocese of Auckland
• Auckland Catholic Justice and Peace Commission
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

Under a deal with the Government, the casino operator will build a $400 million centre in Auckland in exchange for a 27-year extension to its licence and the right to have an extra 230 pokies and up to 52 more gaming tables.

The Government estimates the centre will create jobs and boost both Auckland and the country's economy including tourism revenue by about $90 million a year.

But the chair of Auckland's Pacific advisory panel, Uesifili Unasa, says the MPs should break ranks because the deal will harm their communities.

"Problem gambling is a big issue in Pacific communities. It's a no-brainer in terms of the right thing to do - and that is to vote against the SkyCity bill."

The head of the Tongan council also urged the MPs to rethink their vote. Melino Maka said the casino is already a magnet for problem gamblers from Pacific communities and it would be devastating if the deal goes ahead.

The Presbyterian Church has also expressed its concern. Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Rt Rev Ray Coster, says that the Church does not accept the argument that the financial contributions pokie machines make to community activities justify their existence.

"This legislation will simply mean that more families and more communities will suffer the corrosive effects of problem gambling... The social and financial cost to problem gamblers, their loved ones and the wider community, in our view, outweighs the economic benefit derived from the planned construction of the new convention centre."

Source:

• Radio New Zealand
• voxy.co.nz
• Image: 3news.co.nz

The report dumps all the blame on civil servants. But its description of events makes it very clear the prime minister, his office, his Tourism Ministry, and the Ministry of Economic Development spent a year trying to stitch up a convention centre deal with SkyCity before any other interested party got a glance in.

By doing so, John Key and his officials subverted the normal processes required for government procurement. These are designed to ensure solutions are canvassed widely and the best option chosen. As a result we'll get the convention centre SkyCity wants to build on terms highly favourable to it, which may not be the convention centre New Zealand needs. Here's how the prime minister and his colleagues abused the system, according to the chronology of actions described in the deputy auditor-general's report.

The challenge of building an international-scale convention centre in Auckland has troubled business and Government since the mid-1990s. Competing ideas failed to deliver the optimal solution of type, amenity, place and viability.

Auckland was never short of analysis, particularly government-commissioned studies in 2006 and 2009 by Horwath HTL, New Zealand's leading tourism sector consultant. Horwath's 2009 report said there were three options for a convention centre:

Private ownership through a mechanism such as a build, own, operate, transfer scheme.

Direct ownership by the public sector.

Creation of a special purpose entity accountable to the public sector but operating at arm's length - for example, a statutory body or council-controlled organisation.

After analysis and extensive consultation in the sector, Horwath concluded the third option, public ownership, had the widest support.

But SkyCity had other ideas. Even before the report was delivered in July 2009 it began pushing its own plans. It met senior officials on May 12 and hosted the prime minister at SkyCity on May 14.

The deputy auditor-general reports: "The prime minister's diary includes a meeting with SkyCity's chief executive on 14 May 2009 ... SkyCity confirmed that this meeting took place. Neither participant can recall the discussion, and think that it was probably just an opportunity for them to meet rather than for any particular purpose." Continue reading

Sources

• Rod Oram in The Sunday Star Times
• Image: Stuff

Rod Oram is a columnist for The Sunday Star-Times.