New Zealand to introduce online lottery ticket sales

The National Lottery Commission has done very well selling the tickets with million dollar payouts in supermarkets with 900,000 Instant Kiwi ‘scratchies’ being sold every week in New Zealand. The Commission thinks that offering tickets for sale via the internet will boost sales and increase revenues and availability for the more remote areas of the country.

Opposition has been mounting against the plan by The Problem Gambling Foundation who have been adamant over not allowing online casinos to enter new Zealand’s culture. The group has the opinion that online gambling will create problem social issues.  Graham Aitken, a spokesperson for Problem Gambling, says that “this move is sure to impact a person’s rationality negatively.” Aitken also feels that gambling is a waste of time and money.

The Problem Gambling Foundation backs up there claim of a negative impact from internet lottery sales by using statistics from The Department of Internal Affairs and Health Sponsorship Council which reports that as many as 71 % of all players come from low income regions of New Zealand. The report suggests that the thirteen percent of those gambling admit that they splurge. The Group says the money spent on the hopes of hitting the big one could be better spent on more practical things.

The Foundation is making the claim there is a danger in allowing online purchases of lottery tickets and that the social fabric may be destroyed by an increase in gambling popularity. Lottery revenues though could very well be spent on the upgrading of social services to the less fortunate.