Collins’ in pokies for convention centre deal – in 2001

Written By: - Date published: 6:55 am, April 26th, 2012 - 11 comments
Categories: Judith Collins, same old national - Tags: , , ,

The Herald today reveals that, in 2001, Judith Collins, when she chaired the Casino Control Authority before entering Parliament, rubber-stamped a ‘pokies for convention centre’ deal with SkyCity. This despite her conceding casino pokies cause outsize harm. This neglect of duty by the now Nat Minister was a trigger for the then Labour Government to intervene and limit the number of pokies by statute.

National voted against the Gambling Act 2 years after Collins’ deal with SkyCity and, now a first term MP, she spoke against it in each reading . Collins’ grounds were confused, first she said “Internet gambling and gambling on pokie machines are the two most addictive forms of gambling. That is a proven fact. Every international study has shown it” but then she complained that Labour was trying to tax pokies out of existence and defended casinos: “What is the harm that the registered casinos are producing?”

She also made an interesting reference at committee stage to money laundering through SkyCity, something that National is now trying to claim doesn’t happen.

Now, National’s trying to do another favour for the cancer at the heart of Auckland but, thanks to Labour, they can’t do it on the quiet. It will have to go through Parliament.

11 comments on “Collins’ in pokies for convention centre deal – in 2001 ”

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  1. Carol 1
    26 April 2012 at 7:57 am

    So, who has landed Collin’s in it with this information about her 2001 involvement?

    Is it another chapter in the internal ructions within the NAct Boardwalk Empire.?

    • Deano 1.1
      26 April 2012 at 8:44 am

      a very good question.

    • handle 1.2
      26 April 2012 at 9:54 am

      Old-fashioned journalism? The information wasn’t secret.

      • Deano 1.2.1
        26 April 2012 at 10:08 am

        there’s lots of things that aren’t secret. In fact, there’s such a huge amount of information out there that it usually takes someone who knows to point a journo at something particular like this.

        And it is very interesting to see Collins suddenly being injected into this story. While Joyce and Parata try to stay out of it quiet.

        • Jim Nald 1.2.1.1
          26 April 2012 at 10:19 am

          Hey, what is another nail in the coffin when it is being dragged out of the back door?

  2. ghostwhowalksnz 2
    26 April 2012 at 8:28 am

    Time for all the bids for the convention centre to be reopened and all bidders allowed to include 350 or so pokies and 75 tables in their bids. That way we have a level playing field- (remember those.)

    This is the way Keys government can truely claim they are altering the law to apply to everyone rather than ‘picking winners’ and crony capitalism which is how it is at the moment,

    I have a good feeling that Sky City will fight any competition with every breath it has to keep its major casino monopoly in Auckland. They may even have a change of mind about the extra gambling ?

  3. felix 3
    26 April 2012 at 8:50 am

    “Internet gambling and gambling on pokie machines are the two most addictive forms of gambling. That is a proven fact. Every international study has shown it”

    Gosh, that’s unequivocal condemnation, isn’t it?

    I guess she won’t be voting for more pokies then.

  4. rod 4
    26 April 2012 at 5:14 pm

    I don’t think Duncan Garner will be expanding on this revelation on TV 3 news tonight.

  5. Bryan 5
    26 April 2012 at 6:32 pm

    If 500 extra poker machines will deliver $40M per year extra profit to Sky City from the pockets of the poor. That is $400M in ten years for the “investment of $350M. The extra 220 machines from 2002 must have delivered around $190M extra profit for that $37M put up for the last “convention centre deal”
    Corrupt is as corrupt does – the absurd figures for jobs created, the invisible running costs etc etc

  6. Campbell Larsen 6
    26 April 2012 at 9:31 pm

    Loving the spin on this one – someone running PR for sky city dressed it up a treat:

    The other was a software tool which analysed historical player behaviour to help identify potentially high-risk customers.

    I’m betting (and i’m not usually a betting man) that the ‘risk’ that someone is a problem gambler is not the primary risk that this software was designed to counter.

  7. Volunteer in Nepalese Orphanages 7
    15 May 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Pokies are trouble and nothing else. Collin is to fool to do such thing.