New Zealand Committee Backs iGaming Bill as the Measure Gains Traction

The New Zealand government has backed a bill seeking to legalize online casino gaming. The measure seeks to bring iGaming into the light and oppose offshore gambling.

Online Gaming to Make Local Contributions

The New Zealand Governance and Administration Committee has published its report on the Online Casino Gambling Bill, expressing support for the measure. Among other things, the committee highlighted the bill’s potential to strengthen the community funding initiatives across the country.

The measure has been extensively promoted by Brooke van Velden, New Zealand’s minister of internal affairs, who was excited about the opportunity to establish a regulated online gaming framework and potentially reduce offshore gaming-related gambling harms. She also noted that having a regulated alternative would reduce the amount of money leaking into foreign companies.

Keeping community funding money around has been a major argument in favor of regulating online casino gaming. However, throughout the bill’s consultation process, the government received over 5,000 public submissions, almost 4,000 of which were concerned about the effect regulated iGaming would have on community returns generated by poker machines.

Luckily, the government reassured players that the online casino framework will be integrated into the existing ecosystem in a way that it also generates local community returns. According to the government, licensed online operators will be required to make local contributions, just like their land-based counterparts.

For reference, the community returns from poker machines currently support a variety of local initiatives, such as local clubs, sports, culture, and disability relief.

In any case, the government is set to review online gaming’s impact on poker machine revenue after two years and determine whether further adjustments are needed.

NZ to Introduce a Robust Regulatory Framework

Some raised concerns about the overall expansion of New Zealand’s gaming market and the dangers of the convenience that online gaming offers. They suggested that online casinos can negatively impact the New Zealand youth and other vulnerable groups.

Van Velden, however, explained that these concerns have been taken into account during the development of New Zealand’s responsible gambling requirements. As a result, regulated online operators will need to employ ID checks, spending limits, and self-exclusion tools.

In addition to that, operators will have to follow strict rules on gambling ads.

Proponents of regulated iGaming further argued that offshore gaming poses a far greater threat to social health since offshore operators have to follow no such safer gambling rules.

After weighing the pros and cons, the Governance and Administration Committee has determined that the launch of online casino gaming will be beneficial to the Australian ecosystem. As a result, it backed the bill, recommending its passing.