Gambling Amendment Bill

I move, That the Gambling Amendment Bill be now read a third time. This short bill amends the Gambling Act to allow licensing trust members to be involved in decisions on the distribution of gaming-machine proceeds to the community. The amendment also extends to community trustees where a licensing trust reconstitutes as a community trust under the Sale of Liquor Act.

The Gambling Act prohibits licensing trusts themselves from operating gaming machines. However, some gaming-machine societies that are not licensing trusts operate machines on licensing trust premises. The Act also imposes a strict separation between the people who run the commercial premises in which gaming machines are operated and the people who control the proceeds from gaming machines at those premises. That currently prevents licensing trust members from having any input into decisions on the distribution of gaming-machine proceeds, and on the operation of gambling machines, when the societies concerned operate machines on licensing trust premises.

The bill exempts licensing trust members and community trustees from that separation of functions, in order to reflect their unique position as elected members who are accountable to their local communities. It continues to prohibit licensing trusts themselves from operating gaming machines.

Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Government Administration Committee for their consideration of the bill. I commend the bill to the House.

National is happy to support this bill for the reasons I mentioned during the second reading debate. I will just summarise. The bill exempts licensing trust members and trustees of community trusts from the definition of “key persons”. This will enable them to be involved in decisions about the operation of gaming machines and the distribution of gaming-machine profits. As I said earlier, that was the case prior to 1 July 2004, when the new legislation, the Gambling Act, came in. That involvement was stopped, so we now have the issue that we are trying to rectify.

I made the point, which was also made by New Zealand First, that we believed it was important that a separate amendment bill to the Gambling Act be invoked—which is what we are doing now—as opposed to including this provision in a Statutes Amendment Bill. So we are comfortable that there is no undue influence. A trustee would not receive any monetary gain by being involved in the process and being on the committee that would distribute gaming-machine proceeds. We understand that about $25 million goes back into the community from those licensing trusts, and we are happy to support this proposition.

Bill read a third time.