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Social media influencers Kaden Ratu and Olivia Ratu were once offered more than $20,000 to promote online gambling on their platforms.
They refused. They say their values are more important, and want fellow influencers to also refuse to give in to the quick money-earning scheme.
The pair, from the Gold Coast in Australia, travelled to Hawke’s Bay on Friday to meet Dallas Adams from gambling recovery service Te Rangihaeata Oranga at the #Pushforourpeople event.
The aim was to complete 1000 push-ups at Mitre 10 Park in Hastings, and raise $1000 in doing so. The most important part of the event was to raise awareness about the harms of online gambling.
Australian Gold Coast social media influencers Olivia Ratu (left) and Kaden Ratu. Photo / Michaela Gower
The husband and wife duo, who share comedy skits and family life through their online platforms on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok, say they aim to create wholesome content.
Olivia told Hawke’s Bay Today that influencers who shared links and gambling content were not often aware of the consequences it had on their followers’ lives.
“It’s been flooded over our social media and it’s everywhere and we are counteracting that and saying to our people there is another way.”
Olivia said influencers were offered large sums of money to promote the websites with some not only getting paid to do so, but also given money to use the gambling sites.
“There are so many people online that have got the platforms to use for good and they are choosing to use it to make money and not care about our communities - and I think it is wrong.”
She said it was important to promote content she and her husband believed in that helped elevate their online community, so jumped at the chance to support the #Pushforourpeople event.
“Dallas reached out to us and what he is doing in the community is amazing ... and we got behind it straight away.”
Online gambling harm experienced first-hand
Also at Mitre 10 Park on Friday was Hawke’s Bay woman and recovering online gambling addict Angela Johnson.
Johnson said she had in her worst years lost $100,000 through gambling, mostly online and in casinos.
“It was nothing for me to gamble a couple of thousand dollars a day.”
Angela Johnson said online gambling made it easy to gamble without leaving her home. Photo / Michaela Gower
She said she was in a cycle, made worse by her meth addiction. The more she gambled, the more she lost, and the more she wanted to do it again, she said.
Johnson said while she gambled at casinos and pubs in Auckland, the ability to gamble online meant she could “stay home and just spend everything”.
“It tickles the dopamine release, but only when you’re winning, not when you’re losing.”
She admits she had been influenced by social media figures she thought were friends who shared content and links for online gambling sites.
“I had to block and unfollow all the people that are promoting those links because if I’m not seeing them I don’t think about it too much.”
Johnson said addictions came with a lot of shame, but she wanted to use her experiences to help others, after getting clean from both methamphetamine and gambling in 2020.
She is part of a group called Anti-P Ministry, a group working to help people like her.
“Addicts don’t know how to gamble responsibly.”
Where to get help:
Te Rangihaeata Oranga - Hawke’s Bay Gambling Recovery Service.
You can contact the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655, 7 days a week. The Gambling Helpline is available anywhere in New Zealand, anytime, by texting 8006.
Māori Gambling Helpline - 0800 654 656
Vai Lelei Pasifika Gambling Helpline - 0800 654 657
Youth Gambling Helpline “In Ya Face” - 0800 654 659
Gambling Debt Helpline - 0800 654 658
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
