KEY POINTS:
Gaming machines are designed to entertain people. They're approved and controlled like no other hospitality equipment. They're electronically monitored and forensically audited against a vast array of standards, legislation, regulation and a range of other requirements.
No gaming machines enter New Zealand's casinos, clubs or hotels without previously undergoing detailed testing and technical analysis. Manufacturers deliver every aspect of design, development, manufacture and operation to independently licensed testing laboratories and to government regulatory authorities.
Gaming machine manufacturing companies provide government authorities with complete access to their intellectual property.
Employees responsible for decision making are personally licensed in many jurisdictions and all aspects of their business lives are made available to licensing authorities.
The companies themselves are licensed and their premises, processes and equipment are approved in each of the more than 250 jurisdictions around the world to which they supply products.
These are global businesses which choose to operate only in jurisdictions where proper legal and regulatory structures are in place.
New Zealand's gaming machines are the world's slowest. Unlike everywhere else in the world, players in New Zealand (and Australia) have to wait until the reel spin is completed before they can play again.
The maximum bet in New Zealand is $2.50 - among the world's lowest. The maximum win is $500, which is a fraction of the maximum win in most other countries, and the maximum "linked jackpot" win is $1000 compared to $100,000 in Australia and unlimited millions in the United States.
Anti-gambling zealots have claimed for years that the number of gaming machines somehow equates to problem gambling. New Zealand has just over three million adult residents and so does the Australian state of Queensland - so let's compare the two.
On 30 June 2008, New Zealand had 19,856 machines in clubs and hotels. Queensland had 41,655. So Queensland has the same number of people and about twice as many machines as New Zealand - and one of the lowest rates of problem gambling in the region.
It's long overdue that we all started to focus less on nonsensical issues and more on important ones - such as finding out who are the actual cases of problem gambling and helping them, and providing good information to those who might be susceptible to becoming problem gamblers, so that they don't.
Critics would deny us all the opportunity to stake a dollar or two on the chance of a win; the money distributed to worthy community purposes and the flow of funds to government revenue which is most likely applied to supporting the cost of health, education and law enforcement.
New Zealand's gaming machine operating model is unique in the world. More than one-third of gaming machine revenue provides significant funding for a wide variety of community purposes. Another one-third becomes government revenue.
The remainder barely covers staff, venues, compliance and equipment costs. Nowhere else in the world matches the magnitude of financial contribution into communities as New Zealand's operating model.
History is littered with examples of zealots imposing their own standards on the rest of the population. In this case, money played on a gaming machine is "lost", not "spent" like other entertainment services. We deserve better than this dubious standard.
If "expert" critics wish to attack the hospitality industry, then let them state their case sensibly and supported by real evidence based on properly conducted research and not with hysterical anti-gambling nonsense.
All matters related to research should be published - including reasons for development of the research agenda, project definition, selection criteria, research methodologies, qualifications and experience of parties conducting research, peer review reports, stakeholder consultation, the cost of each research project and many other disclosures - in particular, the people to whom payments are made and their credentials.
Unsubstantiated criticism should be discredited and ignored. What's needed is a set of benchmarks that we can all agree and then determine what actions will achieve the best outcomes, with no unintended negative consequences, and move toward maximising the benefits for all New Zealand communities. And this is precisely what is happening, despite the hysterical nonsense.
* Ross Ferrar is the chief executive of Gaming Technologies Association, which promotes the gaming industry. He is based in Sydney.
