Brooke van Velden: Internal Affairs Minister on the changes barring under 18s from purchasing all Lotto products

It's thought consistency is key as the Government moves to ban all under 18s from buying all Lotto products. 

Currently, only Instant Kiwi products have an age limit. 

Internal Affairs Minister Brooke Van Velden says neither Lotto nor retailers want to sell its products to children, but it's a legally grey area right now. 

She told Tim Beveridge she expects little resistance to the change. 

Van Velden says Lotto estimates just 0.2% of all tickets are bought by kids. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, plans are in place to ban Lotto from teens
or teens from Loto as the law currency currently stands,
Instant Kiwi products are the only ones banned for the
under eighteens. Our government is looking to make necessary changes
this year, saying children can't buy alcohol or cigarette, so
why should they be able to gamble. Internal Affairs Minister

(00:37):
Brook van Velden joins me, Now, good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Good morning, Tim.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
So what motivated this change? Did this come from you
or from public pressure?

Speaker 3 (00:48):
So this has come from outside and from Lotto themselves.
They don't want to sell to children. But in order
to enforce a retail of not wanting to sell, there
actually does need to be a law change. But what
I'm doing at the moment is I'm going through all
of the laws that I'm responsible for under internal affears
and tidying up and clearing up quite a few of those.

(01:09):
But about eighty law changes coming through. I'm doing it
as one big tranch of law changes, and as part
of that, we've said, let's make Lotto's products consistent across
the board, so it's easier for retailers to sell products
and easier for people going into the shops to know
what they can and can't buy. So we're making consistency

(01:30):
across you know, Powerball Strike as well as the instant
scratchet that gambling is for people over the age of eighteen,
but it also brings a bit of consistency across some
gambling product. You know, tab is already over eighteen, as
well as Pokey's.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Some might say it's well, talk about the TIB that
it's relatively harmless. They're not exactly hanging out at the
casino or the races, are they.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
No, you're right. It is a very minor law change
that we are making. There isn't a large problem here.
You know, there isn't gangs of teenages going through and
buying up tickets. But what we're doing here is really
about consistency and making it really clear who can and
can't buy. I know that there are some retailers that
don't want to sell to children, but at the moment

(02:17):
that's a legal gray area because of course a child
can buy one, you expecting, So we're making it very clear.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Sorry, are you expecting the law to be adopted easily
by retailers, or do you expect a bit of resistance
on that score.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
I would expect it to be very easy. You know,
when I've asked for some hard numbers from Lotto, they
haven't been able to provide specifics on how many kids
actually do buy Lotto tickets. But I've been given a
ballpark figure that it's less than zero point two percent
of all tickets. So really, this is clearing up some
of those instances where you might have someone coming in

(02:53):
and you're thinking, oh right, I know that for some
Lotto products I have to ask for ID, and for
others I don't. This is saying if anyone looks under
twenty five and they're trying to buy a Lotto ticket,
just ask their ID. In general, that's easier for anybody
trying to sell a ticket at a retail shop. And
it's also much easier for parents as well. You know,

(03:14):
at the moment, like you say, you can't ask your
kid to go and buy your wine or beer, or
cigarettes or vaps, so why can ask them to go
and get your gambling products?

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Are the consequences or the sanctions for people who consistently
break the law on this, so there's the same across
the board as well. A lot I will be treated
the same as if you let a kid into a casino.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
So what it is at the moment is there are
fines for people who sell instant scratches and it's around
one thousand dollars and we'd be looking at making it consistent.
But it's the same for around two thousand dollars for
buying alcohol. So they are fines there. They are minor,
but we don't actually expect this to be a large problem.

(03:57):
It's mainly about consistency.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Excellent, Hey Brook, really thank you for your time this morning,
and happy New Year. That is Brook van Velden, the
Internal Affairs Minister. Lots of changes, but there's one that's
going to stop the kids being able to get sent
down to the dairy to buy your Yolatto ticket.

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