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Finally, An End To "Waikiwi Relocations"
Decisions about whether pokie venues may be relocated are back in the hands of local communities, as they should have been since the Gambling Act was amended for that purpose in 2013.
From 2014 to 2023, the Department of Internal Affairs, which regulates gambling in Aotearoa, made decisions that the High Court has now found to be unlawful.
These decisions were known as "Waikiwi relocations". In every case where a Waikiwi relocation was allowed - with one possible exception - the decision was contrary to a local council's class 4 venue policy.
As a consequence, there are now more pokie venues in Aotearoa than there should be: up to 24 venues, with about 400 pokie machines in them.
In 2023 Feed Families Not Pokies Aotearoa Inc (FFNPA) took a declaratory judgement action in the High Court. In February 2024 the court declared Waikiwi relocations to be unlawful.
In 2024 that decision was taken to the Court of Appeal by the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand. In its decision released on 19 February 2025 the court dismissed the appeal and reinforced the High Court decision: finally Waikiwi relocations are no longer allowed.
The High Court decision means that the pokie venues which were wrongly relocated may be subject to judicial review, leading to their closure.
FFNPA cannot afford to undertake those proceedings, but will share the evidence it has obtained under the Official Information Act with the councils concerned and provide such other assistance and advice as it can to support such actions.
FFNPA's main focus at present is challenging another means by which DIA has taken decisions about the provision of gambling out of the hands of local communities. We are raising funds for that action here: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/make-sinking-lids-sink
VIDEO EXPLAINER:
This URL opens a 20 minute YouTube video, which explains what Waikiwi relocations were, how they came about, and how FFNPA eventually stopped them: https://youtu.be/tEqsUmvZ3nM
This URL opens a Google Drive folder with copies of the documents cited in the video: https://tinyurl.com/3xfhc42p
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