Author: Daniel Williams

The Wellbeing Budget of New Zealand was officially released only a fortnight ago. According to some analysts, the budget represented an anomaly with its attempt to set local people’s wellbeing as a paramount priority rather than economic growth. The Chief Executive Officer of Hāpai te Hauora, Selah Hart, explained that the budget is aimed at actually making a commitment to people’s wellbeing, but that would depend on the Government’s ability to combine its policy and action across all public sector aspects with fiscal resourcing. Hāpai te Hauora has been an…

Today, the Australian casino giant Star Entertainment Group Ltd revealed that the tension caused by the US-China trading war has been having a negative impact on both Asian gamblers’ confidence and the company’s profit, resulting in the largest share decline it has experienced since listing. The information revealed by Star Entertainment comes to demonstrate the significant impact which the long-running dispute between the US and China is having, especially in the light of the 25% punitive tariffs which the US has already imposed on some goods, and the ones which…

Members of Porirua community are expected to urge the authorities for tougher measures on poker machines, while consultation on the proposed Class 4 gambling policy of the City Council is to be brought to an end by the end of the week. The verbal hearings are scheduled to take place at Te Rauparaha Arena on June 12th, with the community members set to voice their concerns regarding the controversial poker machines and the harm they cause to community and most vulnerable members of society. A local community member, Tony Sutoris,…

A community group in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, may have to reconsider its policy of not taking poker machine funding after facing some difficulties with other fundraising methods. The issue is set to be discussed at the general meeting of the Valley Project which is scheduled for June 19th. The community would have to decide whether to start accepting funding money collected by the gambling machines. The community group has existed in its current form for about a decade, being largely dependent on Government funding for the first…

At an event which took place in Cardiff, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) revealed that it is to roll out the new National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms after joining forces with partners in Wales, including charity organisations, regulators, local health bodies and businesses. This is a three-year strategy that is aimed to drive the Commission’s work in Wales and the other regions in the UK and is unveiled as part of the regulator’s efforts to bring a long-term impact on reducing negative consequences associated with gambling. The last few…

Reforms which relate to the racing industry and sports funding will not result in losses for sporting organisations in the country, Grant Robertson, Sport and Recreation Minister, has claimed. On the other hand, Racing Minister Winston Peters has also defended the shortened public consultation process at a time when Transparency International NZ has strongly criticised it after claiming that the period of five days available for public submissions is not long enough. Back in April, New Zealand’s competent authorities unveiled the Racing Reform Bill which is currently before the select…

The local council should be given more powers to decide on the fate of controversial poker machines, a New Zealand gambling addict said. Currently, there are 61 pokies in the hometown of the man, Ōtaki, north of Wellington – a number a lot higher than the number recommended by the council, which is 42. The man, called James, confesses that he has spent thousands of dollars while playing the machines that have been blamed a lot for their detrimental impact on gamblers’ lives. The fact that James has been self-employed…

Three gamblers were reported to have targeted a 95-year-old man who has been carrying a large amount of cash at the Star Casino in Sydney, then followed the man home and robbed him, taking his live savings estimated to AU$6,250. One of the three attackers, Amandeep Singh confessed about his wrongdoings to the police officers who caught him up and accused him of the robbery and said that the three of them gave the elderly man back AU$100 “so he can eat”. Today, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rejected…

The former regulator who provided Crown Resorts with a casino operation license backed a new probe to the company’s new shareholder Lawrence Ho but also highlighted the fact that no links have been found between him and his father Stanley Ho. Chris Sidoti, the human rights lawyer who took the chairman’s position of the NSW Casino, Liquor and Gaming Authority more than a decade ago, inspected a 2014 agreement with Crown Resorts under which any links between the Asian casino mogul Stanley Ho and the Australian gambling operator were prevented.…

Earlier today, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published the latest gambling industry statistics to unveil more detailed information on each sector which it regulates. The country’s gambling watchdog publishes its industry statistics twice a year, in May and November. The latest data provided by the regulator cover the period between October 2017 and September 2018 and include online gambling services. The official statistics published by the UKGC have been compiled thanks to the data provided by British gambling licence holders through their regulatory returns. The UKGC revealed that the total…