The Green Party has pulled its support for a bill aimed at giving local communities more say over gambling, saying proposed changes will water it down so much that it can not support it any longer.
Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell's Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Bill was reported back from select committee today with significant changes suggested.
The original member's bill aimed to ensure that at least 80 per cent of proceeds from gambling went back into the communities from which they came, and would have allowed local councils, with support from local communities, to reduce or eliminate pokies in areas where there were gambling problems.
It would also have introduced measures to restrict the gambling by known problem gamblers such as player tracking devices and `pre-commitment cards'.
The select committee has put forward changes to the bill including removing the 80 per cent requirement, saying while it supported the principle it would disadvantage national and regional organisations. Instead it proposed allowing regulations to prescribe allocation rules, taking into account the area in which the proceeds were gathered.
