The Department of Internal Affairs

Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs

Building a safe, prosperous and respected nation



 

Spending on pokies up slightly


31/01/2007

Gaming machine expenditure in almost 1600 pubs and clubs around the country rose by just under one per cent to $245.3 million in the three months to December 31, 2007 according to figures from the Department of Internal Affairs. This compares with $243.5 million in the previous quarter.

The electronic monitoring of 20,000 non-casino gaming machines became fully operational last March enabling the Department to track and monitor operations, ensuring the integrity of games and the accurate accounting of money.

The biggest spending areas in the December quarter were Auckland City with $25.2 million (10.3 per cent of the total) from 1625 machines, Christchurch City $23.6 million (9.6 per cent) from 1891 machines and Manukau City $20.2 million (8.2 per cent) from 1014 machines.

Non-club venues accounted for 87 per cent of the expenditure at $213.5 million, with chartered clubs registering 7.7 per cent ($18.9million), RSAs four per cent ($9.9 million) and sports clubs ($3 million) the remainder.

The December quarter gaming machine statistics fluctuated marginally on the previous quarter indicating that numbers have stabilised with the introduction of EMS. Licence holders dropped on the September 07 quarter, from 435 to 428, venues from 1593 to 1585 while gaming machines increased from 20,163 to 20,182.


Licensed gambling operations in pubs and clubs
Date
Licence holders
Venues
Gaming machines
31 December 2007
428
1585
20,182
30 Sep 2007
435
1593
20,163
30 June 2007
439
1598
20,120
31 March 2007
444
1607
20,302
31 December 2006
476
1666
20,518
30 September 2006
481
1676
20,571
30 June 2006
496
1701
20,739
31 March 2006
513
1721
21,026
31 December 2005
526
1747
21,343
30 September 2005
535
1770
21,684
30 June 2005
553
1801
21,846
31 March 2005
568
1838
22,159
31 December 2004
584
1850
22,231
31 December 2003
672
2031
22,734
30 June 20031
699
2122
25,221

1. Machine numbers peaked in the quarter before the Gambling Act was passed.


GM spending by Society Type - October to December 2007

Society TypeTotal GMP Quarter% of Total
Non-Club$ 213,470,510.6587.0%
Sports Clubs$ 3,066,651.571.3%
Chartered Clubs$ 18,893,043.747.7%
RSA's$ 9,861,119.974.0%
Total Club$ 31,820,815.2813.0%
TOTAL ALL$ 245,291,325.93100.0%

Further information, including numbers of venues, machines and expenditure by territorial authority and changes in the quarter, is available from the Department’s Gaming Statistics web page at: www.dia.govt.nz


Media Contact:

Trevor Henry, communications adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
Ph 04 495 7211; cell 0275 843 679