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Maori public health advocacy service Hapai Te Hauora has taken aim at the Lotteries Commission’s latest online gambling products, saying they have immense potential for harm.
Its general manager for Maori public health, Anthony Hawke, says kanohi ki te kanohi or face to face rapport building is an essential aspect of harm minimisation.
That’s eliminated in an online environment, where people are gambling alone.
He says the concerns are shared by the Mental Health Foundation, which warns addictive gambling products such as pokie machines and on-line gambling make the stresses experienced by those in poor communities worse and compound mental health problems.
Mr Hawke says the Lotteries Commission has been pushing for online gambling for more than 10 years, and successive governments have been told of the risk but failed to act.
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