Advertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\nThis year the Ministry headed into the latest levy-setting exercise again having not carried out a review. <\/p>\n
It nevertheless asked the Commission – currently led by barrister Susan Hughes KC – to increase the levy on the gambling industry to $92m: \u201cThis extra investment will help address persistent gambling harm, health inequities, and service gaps\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The Gambling Commission called this approach \u201cunacceptable\u201d and said the Ministry should be exercising restraint by asking for the \u201cminimum levy necessary rather than increasing it in a manner that is inconsistent with the current financial climate\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The Gambling Commission says there is no evidence Ministry of Health programmes had any \u201csubstantial impact on the level of gambling harm\u201d.<\/p>\n
It also said it \u201ccannot endorse a significant increase in expenditure when it is not clear that the Ministry\u2019s approach is working or that the sum sought is appropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said the Ministry had failed to provide evidence its strategy \u201cachieved the most basic outcome of preventing and minimising harm\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was also critical of the Ministry\u2019s repeated cuts to spending on evaluation and research since 2019 – and its plan to continue to spend less through to 2028 despite \u201can ongoing information vacuum\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is simply no research to indicate the Ministry\u2019s expenditure is making a difference,\u201d its report to Ministers said.<\/p>\n
The Gambling Commission\u2019s report to Cabinet included data showing spending on gambling increased from $2b in 2013\/14 to almost $2.8b in 2023\/24, during which time the number of people seeking help fell from 6525 to 3615.<\/p>\n
Over that period, the Commission said the level of harm measured in the community hadn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n
It also emerged the Ministry\u2019s sought-after increase included doubling funding to its own offices from $3.5m to $7m.<\/p>\n
Advice to the Commission from experts Synergia Consulting said part of the Ministry\u2019s bid was difficult to justify because it related to \u201cinternal issues created by the health restructuring rather than any needs within the gambling harm sector\u201d.<\/p>\n
What the Ministry said<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said its strategy relied on \u201ca full range of evidence-based public health and clinical services\u201d that was \u201cinformed by international and local research\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Lotto]()
Lotto was the only gambling sector to expand its share of the market.<\/p>\n
It said the strategy included targeted funding for a research programme that would provide more evidence for decision-making. <\/p>\n
The spokesperson said operating costs for the Ministry and Health NZ had risen from $3.5m in the previous levy period to $5.3m in the current levy period. <\/p>\n
The Health Promotion Agency had been folded into Health NZ, adding costs, they said.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said the levy was being used for activities related to the problem gambling strategy as required under law – and so taxpayer money intended for health was not being spent on problem gambling.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Ministry released a new standard for data collection for gambling providers updating the \u201coutdated\u201d existing system that \u201cneeds to be replaced as it is no longer fit for service or supported\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pokies went from pulling in $806m to $1.04bn over the decade to 2024 but Lotto was the big mover, jumping from $463m to $768m.<\/p>\n
Pokies\u2019 boss says help should be targeted<\/p>\n
\u201cPokies\u201d soak up around 40% of spending on gambling and have the largest share of gambling across the industry with an obligation to return profits through community grants.<\/p>\n
Pub Charity Ltd, which operates pokies in pubs and bars and distributes $45m, was among operators criticising the Ministry\u2019s approach to harm reduction.<\/p>\n
Managing director Martin Cheer said the increase in the levy would leave Pub Charity Ltd with about $200,000 less to distribute to community and sporting organisations.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The Ministry] has been doing the same thing for 20 years and produced no tangible outcome – and they\u2019ve turned up and asked for more money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheer said few people in the wider population suffered serious gambling harm and a broad public health strategy didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
![\"Martin]()
Martin Cheer of Pub Charity.<\/p>\n
Of those with a serious issue, he said: \u201cThey\u2019re addicts. Some people are vulnerable. If you put 1000 people in a room and two people have a problem, I\u2019d be looking at those two people and not the whole room.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said trying to manage problem gambling across the whole population was like \u201ctrying to boil the ocean\u201d.<\/p>\n
A Lotteries Commission said it supported the Ministry\u2019s gambling harm strategy, recognising \u201csome harm does occur for a small number of our customers\u201d. A spokesperson also endorsed the introduction of the \u201cmodern client management system to treatment providers, which could increase visibility and understanding of problem gambling in the community\u201d.<\/p>\n
When the Herald asked the Problem Gambling Foundation about the Ministry\u2019s failure to produce evidence, its chief executive Melissa Thompson said there was data supporting its efforts – in submissions made by the gambling industry.<\/p>\n
Thompson would not comment directly on the Commission\u2019s criticism of the Ministry of Health – its source of funding. She said she believed the Foundation produced good evidence showing that its work was effective. <\/p>\n
Asked about its success with the government offering 15 online gambling licences next year, she said a \u201crobust regulatory environment\u201d was critical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re endlessly hopeful that advocating and providing good evidence will result in good decisions. We\u2019d rather see no gambling whatsoever but that\u2019s not the reality of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the<\/b>Herald<\/b>in 2004.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Commission\u2019s expert reviewer Dr David Rees said of the funding: \u201cWe don\u2019t know if it\u2019s enough, we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[25900,96249,25448,13019,44775,9674,59139,96251,61940,44225,6732,16745,105,96250,62499,43071,5038,32505,218,5026,45610,3577,5029,20784,20780,14998,50176,17947,66,5598,6093,16,15,43070,596,6099],"class_list":{"0":"post-249090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-stop","9":"tag-81m","10":"tag-answer","11":"tag-cant","12":"tag-david","13":"tag-does","14":"tag-dont","15":"tag-doocey","16":"tag-enough","17":"tag-fisher","18":"tag-gambling","19":"tag-good","20":"tag-health","21":"tag-healths","22":"tag-its","23":"tag-know","24":"tag-matt","25":"tag-mental","26":"tag-mental-health","27":"tag-minister","28":"tag-ministry","29":"tag-of","30":"tag-plan","31":"tag-problem","32":"tag-question","33":"tag-reports","34":"tag-said","35":"tag-show","36":"tag-strategy","37":"tag-the","38":"tag-to","39":"tag-uk","40":"tag-united-kingdom","41":"tag-we","42":"tag-work","43":"tag-works"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114819886225651127","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}