KEY POINTS:
The long, hot summer is being credited with an 11 per cent drop in spending on gaming machines for the March quarter.
The Department of Internal Affairs yesterday said spending reached $218.5 million for the three months to March 31, compared with $245.3 million in the December quarter, $243.5 million in the September quarter and $237.7 million in the June quarter.
Problem Gambling Foundation chief executive John Stansfield said the drop was likely to be partly due to a long hot summer keeping people out of "dark and sleazy" pokie bars.
Rising public awareness about the dangers of gambling on pokies, and tighter local government controls could also have contributed to the fall, he said.
"Whatever the reason it is great news.
"If this becomes a trend we will soon see the pokie trusts packing their bags and slinking out of town," Mr Stansfield said.
"This would leave poorer communities with much greater resilience to deal with problems like the rapidly increasing price of food and fuel."
The electronic monitoring of 20,000 non-casino gaming machines became fully operational in March 2007 enabling the department to track and monitor operations.
Internal Affairs director of gambling compliance Mike Hill said spending was down in 68 of the 73 districts.
- NZPA
