Peter Dengate Thrush is not happy with the media in New Zealand. He accused the press of writing misleading articles about the gaming figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs.
The figures claimed a 116 percent increase in gaming machine profit in the machines hosted in taverns and clubs across New Zealand in the last quarter. “This increase is hardly a surprise,” said Thrush, the independent chair of the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand. “During lockdown the clubs and taverns that host gaming machines were closed; there were no gaming profits at all.”
Comparing results during lockdown with those post-lockdown did not paint a true picture, according to Scoop.
“It would be like expressing astonishment that there has been a massive increase in air travel or restaurant spending in the most recent quarter compared with the period New Zealand was in lockdown,” Thrush said. “It’s highly unfortunate that the release of these figures has been used to suggest that New Zealand has seen a massive increase in gaming activity in recent months.”
While gaming machine spending post lockdown is a bit higher than the same period last year, the overall spend for the year is down by over 12 percent.
“All profit from gaming machines goes directly to the community, so any decrease automatically translates to less funds available to support worthy organizations in the great work they do all over New Zealand,” Thrush said.
