Kids locked in van outside casino a problem gambling issue

The case of five children left locked in a van while their parents visited Sky City on Sunday is an ugly reality of problem gambling which will only get worse if the Government’s convention centre deal with the casino goes ahead, the Green Party says.

Green Party gambling spokesperson Denise Roche said the social misery problem gambling causes would escalate if the Government goes ahead with its plan to let Sky City operate more pokie machines.

“The reality is, the more pokies there are, the more problem gambling there will be,” said Ms Roche.

“The last thing we need right now are more pokie machines to add further fuel to these awful situations.

“Sky City claim they have systems in place to protect against this kind of thing but clearly it’s not working.

“How often does this sort of thing happen and we don’t know about it?”

The Government is understood to be changing gambling regulation to allow Sky City to have more pokie machines and gambling tables in exchange for the casino building a $350 million conference centre.

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