Waikato pokie expenditure figures revised

28 May 2014

A different picture of pokie machine gambling in the Waikato has emerged in revised pokie expenditure figures from the Department of Internal Affairs.

Four venues were incorrectly located when coding changes were made last year to reflect the new Auckland city boundaries. This meant that gaming machine expenditure between 1 January 2013 and 31 March 2014 was overstated for South Waikato and understated for Waikato.

The revised figures show that in the 12 months ended March 2014 gaming machine expenditure in South Waikato pubs and clubs dropped 4.3 per cent or $287,583 to $6,450,201; for the same period, pokie gambling in Waikato District increased 26 per cent or $1,666,380 to $8,087,384.32. This increase was largely attributable to venues being added to Waikato District that were formerly part of Franklin District (with the remainder of Franklin District now part of Auckland city), rather than an actual increase in gambling spending. Nationally expenditure in the March year was down two per cent from $828.7 million to $811.6 million.

The revised expenditure figures are on the Department’s website.

Media contact:
Trevor Henry, Senior Communications Adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
Phone 04 495 7211; 021 245 8642