"There have been a lot of questions asked about why the Charities Commission was forwarding on emails through its network to oppose my People before Pokies Bill' said Te Ururoa Flavell today. "And rightly so. The Charities Commission[1] has the privilege of enormous access - at last count there were some 25,500 charities listed on their register. So when an email comes via their offices, suggesting my bill should be opposed because the changes could affect their funding, that is a huge concern for me about the integrity of their advice.
"As if that's not bad enough, the very public admission of Pub Charity Chief Executive Martin Cheer that the organisation used money sourced from pokies to publically lobby against the Bill is just as dodgy, however small the amount, and I raised questions in the House this week asking what DIA is doing about it" Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for Waiariki and Anti-Gambling Bill Champion says.
"I want to know what steps DIA will put in place to stop this happening again. Acting as the go-between for lobbyists opposing the Bill demonstrates blatant disregard for their own legislation. I want to know how they plan to better monitor the spend of gaming proceeds in the future.
"There have also been accounts in the media of those who benefit from the proceeds of pokies being pressured to make submissions opposing my Bill, in the fear that they might be worse off. I want to make explicitly clear that the aim of the Bill is to put a bigger share of the money back to the communities from where it came."
My Bill will require that at least 80% of pokie funds are to be returned to the community - the only charities who have anything to fear are those who benefit from money being siphoned out of communities other than their own".
Background
- Public submissions are now being invited on the Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill.
- The purpose of this bill is to provide local communities with more power to determine where "pokie" machines may be sited, and in how the proceeds can be distributed. Please make a submission on the public website by clicking the link : Make a submission.
- The closing date for submissions is Thursday, 21 June 2012.
[1] The Charities Commission is an autonomous Crown Entity, charged with promoting ‘public trust and confidence in the charitable sector'. One of their functions is to provide advice and help to all charities