Fraser Kirby: North Wellington Football Club president on communities getting a share of online casino profits

Community groups and charities successfully turned the Government view on giving them a share of online casino profits.

It originally set the duty in new laws for licensed online operators at 12 percent, but from today that's risen to16.  

Four percent will be ring-fenced specifically to go to community groups, in similar fashion to physical casinos.

North Wellington Football Club president, Fraser Kirby, says that's a step in the right direction.

"I think the positive is that all of the community groups that raised concerns around this have all been listened to, and the bill's been revised accordingly."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The government's done a u turn on the online gambling.
It's now offering to give a share of some of
the money to the community organizations. Now, under the original plan,
community groups and sports clubs would get no money from
the online gambling regulation. Now the minister says she'll tax
the providers an extra four percent should give it to
the groups. Fraser Kirby is the president of the North
Wellington Football Club and with us high Fraser, is this good?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Four percent?

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Is what you want?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah? Look, it's a step in the right direction. I
think the positive is that I guess all the community
groups that raise concerns around this have been listened to,
and then the bill has been revised accordingly in this
moment in time, and that's probably all that we can
really take out of it to be fair right at
this moment.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, one of the concerns that you had was that
you guys were going to miss out on money. But
I can't see how you miss out on money. How
does that happen?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
If this had gone through as it was proposed, anyone
gambling online, there would have been no money coming back
into the New Zealand community.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Do you get money from online gambling at the moment.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
No, we don't know. How do you miss out the assumption?
The assumption is that people will start to migrate from
physical pokies to online gambling.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Is online gambling available to us at the moment?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I believe it is?

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yes? Okay, so not. I still don't see how you
lose out. Then if we can already choose between online
gambling and pokies, and in the future we will choose
between online gambling and pokeyes, how do you miss out
in the future.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
The assumption is that people will move to online because
it's more accessible and obviously the more people that do that,
the less people will be go out of.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
That to be like four percent is a good deal then.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, look, I mean it's a from where it was
to where it is.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Absolutely Yeah, nicely played, Fraser, Appreciate it. Fraser Kirby, President
north Wellington Football Club. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
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