Community funding has been introduced in New Zealand through the Online Casino Gambling Bill as the Home Secretary says they are “listening to New Zealanders”.
Brooke van Velden, Minister of the Interior, announced In his introduction on Wednesday (October 29), he said: “The message from communities was loud and clear: if we regulate online gambling, they want the benefits to return to local sports clubs, community groups and grassroots organisations.
“I have listened and now, as a government, we are delivering on what matters most to communities across the country.”
What is the new Overseas Gaming Rights Bill in New Zealand?
The proposed change increases the foreign gambling tax from 12% to 16%. A total of 4% has been set aside specifically for community returns, which will create a completely new funding stream for New Zealand communities.
“While I am confident that the regulated online casino market will provide new community funding opportunities for New Zealand sporting clubs and community organisations, I recognize that predicting the exact impact on the existing Class 4 [pokies] The returns create some uncertainty,” Brooke continued.
“Cabinet agreed to a two-year review following the implementation of the community returns policy to assess the impact of online casino gaming on other forms of gambling and community returns.”
The bill attempts to address a gap in New Zealand’s regulatory framework. “Right now, Kiwis are gambling on thousands of foreign websites with no safety nets, no spending limits and no recourse when things go wrong. That’s unacceptable.
“This bill brings those operators under New Zealand law, with appropriate consumer protections, harm minimization measures and, now, community benefits.”
Van Velden confirmed that this would be new money on top of existing funding from “pokies, Lotto and TAB”. He added that they are not taking away anything, but rather adding to what is already there, and reiterated this point in a recent LinkedIn post.
Featured image: generated by AI using ideogram
The post Gambling in New Zealand could fund local community groups appeared first on ReadWrite.
#Gambling #Zealand #fund #local #community #groups
