Maori want part of action

Government minister Tariana Turia says Maori should be on gambling regulatory bodies as of right to ensure they get their fair share of poker machine profits to replace money generated through traditional fundraisers such as housie, raffles and two-up.

Mrs Turia told an international gambling conference in Auckland yesterday that gambling such as poker machines had damaged the community and become a way of ensuring the "lid of the poverty trap is never lifted".

She blamed breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and colonisation as factors contributing to problem gambling in the Maori community.

Although there were no formal organised games of chance before Pakeha arrival, Maori had taken to using raffles, housie and other fundraisers as a common community activity, she said. "Gambling was a way to redistribute money that was, in reality, donated to the building of marae, for kapa-haka groups and other activities."

If widespread gambling such as the pokies was to be accepted as a normal part of life, then the profits should be distributed by Maori alongside the Government.