A Hamilton casino worker has been sentenced to nine months' home detention for accepting financial gifts from patrons.

Royce Duncan claimed his success as a gambler - not a methamphetamine manufacturer - was the reason he could afford so many expensive toys, such as a 15.2m (50ft) launch.

Brian Rudman asks: "If a national convention centre is the vital piece of missing infrastructure to guarantee our future prosperity, why are they shackling it to the whims of a gambling empire?"

Claire Trevett writes: "John Key caved in and did something vaguely resembling the Gangnam Dance - prompting one observer to sum it up thus: "I bloody love that we have a Prime Minister who is not afraid to make a tit of himself.""

Sky City helped negotiate a deal struck by the Govt which fast tracks wealthy Chinese visitors' visa applications to NZ, Winston Peters has revealed.

Sky City's share price has dropped 4.6pc after it cut its earnings forecast this morning.

Sky City has revised its earnings downward to a net profit "in the low $140 millions".