When the defense becomes irrational....

Key defends casino deal
DANYA LEVY

Prime Minister John Key says hundreds of extra pokies at Sky City Casino will not increase gambling addiction but the Problem Gambling Foundation says every 10 new machines creates eight people with a problem.

The Government is negotiating a deal with the Auckland-based casino to build a $350 million international convention centre in return for being allowed up to 500 new pokie machines.

Key is facing increased pressure over the deal after reports gaming machines in pubs and clubs return 37 per cent of their profits to the community but Sky City casino returns just 2.5 per cent.

Today Key said those figures were "not quite right" and there was "a range of ways" the casino made payments to the community but he "didn't have to hand" details on how those payments were made.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce was unaware of the huge discrepancy in returns to the community from casino-based machines when asked on Sunday.

Key this morning defended the need for a convention centre, saying the tourism sector needed it.

"Those visitors tend to spend about twice as much as a normal holiday-maker," he told TV3's Firstline programme.

"They come off-season so help smooth out the seasonal troughs and peaks."

The Government was "wrestling" with Sky City over how many new pokies it would pass legislation to enable the casino to have, Key said. The final number was likely to be lower than 500.

Key said he did not believe the additional machines would attract more locals to Sky City, saying the casino was targeting international clients.

"The question is would a small number of pokie machines in addition at Sky City materially make a difference to problem gambling, the answer is I don't believe it will."

However, Problem Gambling Foundation chief executive Graeme Ramsey said research showed for every gaming machine, there was 0.8 of a problem gambler.

"So it's almost one for one. There's a very clear correlation between availability of machines and the number of machines, and the number of problems."

Forty per cent of the money lost in machines came from people with gambling problems.

"The harm from gambling is all about pokie machines. For over 70 per cent of people who come to us, it's about pokies."

The convention centre was being touted as free for the country, he said.

"There is nothing free about this. It is gamblers of Auckland who are going to pay and because they are going to pay, we are all going to pay because we all pick up the social cost of problem gambling."

Key said last month casinos were better equipped to deal with problem gamblers than pubs and clubs, but information released under the Official Information Act yesterday showed 265 problem gamblers who had been banned from Sky City were found on the premises in 2011 alone.