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A Māori health advocacy agency is concerned a new post-COVID recovery fund bankrolled by lottery grants will deepen dependence on gambling.
Minister of Internal Affairs Tracy Martin says the $40 million Lotto Community Wellbeing Fund this week is for community-driven responses to the pandemic.
Hāpai Te Hauora gambling harm spokesperson Tara Dymus says Lotto is a profit machine, not a welfare agency.
"It says for community distribution, but at the end of the day it is at the expense of vulnerable whānau who are participating the most – $7 to $13 a week is a lot when you are in poverty basically," she says.
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