According to a recently released report, the large number of poker machines on the territory of Christchurch has led to an increasing rate of problem gambling among local citizens.
As mentioned above, the massive number of pokies in the city has been blamed for the quickly spreading gambling addiction among local residents. According to some, the problem with rising gambling addiction has been “over-represented” in Christchurch.
The above-mentioned report, called “The Economic Impact of NCGMs on Christchurch City”, has revealed that levels of problem gambling have been slowly falling in the city. However, at the same time, the number of people who are seeking some help to deal with gambling addictions remains high per capita. This has made some experts claim that the problem gambling is over-represented in the city when it comes to user statistics of people who have asked for some professional help to treat their gambling addiction.
The report has been released to provide more information to the city council in order to help it make its regulatory performance committee decision to approve its “sinking lid” policy. The latter is aimed at preventing any new class four gambling licences, under which gambling on pokies in local clubs and pubs is allowed, from being issued for a further three years in order to see a gradual reduction in the number of poker machines.
More People Looking for Help to Deal with Problem Gambling
Back in 2017, a total of 1,207 local people sought help for their addiction to gambling, with that figure representing a rate which was 2% larger than the national average. According to the data revealed by the report, there are also a larger number of gaming machines per venue and per capita in the city of Christchurch in comparison to the national average. As mentioned above some experts have revealed that there was a link between density of poker machines and problem gambling rates in the city, saying that the larger number of machines does not mean larger expenditure in any case, but it may actually mean more gambling-related harm.
Currently, a total of 1,332 pokies are available in 86 venues in the city. This means that only the city of Tauranga has a larger number of poker machines per head of population, with Christchurch remaining on the second position by the number of pokies available.
According to the latest report, the authorities should focus on the reduction of gambling offerings throughout Christchurch. This is particularly important because the city still has a high number of pokies per capita, as well as comparatively high rates of local residents who are looking for help to deal with their gambling addiction.
The current “sinking lid” policy of the Christchurch city council has been in action since 2004. About a week ago, some media reports that the local city council has called for the Christchurch Casino to boost its contribution to society and community goals have emerged. Still, the aforementioned policy is considered the best way to actually cut the increasing number of gambling machines.
- Author
Daniel Williams
