The new gambling legislation introduced last year says that casinos must take action to minimize gambling harm. The first casino to be suspended for not having enforced this law is Dunedin Casino. One of its players, Christine Marie Keenan, lost 5 million dollars in two years after having stolen half million to finance her gambling habit. Ms Keenan was jailed for three years.
Barry Allan, professor of the Otago University Law Department, said that casinos have to be serious in having protocols for identifying problematic gamblers, knowing that the state will enforce the law. In New Zealand, with over 2 billion dollars gambled, around 5.000 gamblers are convicted of crime related to their habit.
The Dunedin Casino will have twenty days to file a submission and request a hearing. Meanwhile, Internal Affairs has suspended the casino. The Dunedin says that they will oppose this suspension. Graham Aitken, member of the Problem Gambling Foundation, said that casinos have to be heavily penalized for them to know that regulations are to be complied.
