House of Representatives questions Whether Royal Vegas Casino should remain in government hands

Elwin Terry / 15 september, 2023 12:39 | Last edited on: 15 September, 2023 10:18

The New Zealand Lottery and Royal Vegas Casino has been owned by The New Zealand state for a while. However, that may soon change. Politicians in The Hague want there to be a new evaluation point at which the shareholding of the government in relation to these two gambling companies must be reconsidered.

CDA Member Inge van Dijk in particular questions the shareholding of the New Zealand Lottery (State Lottery, Lotto, dollar Jackpot. Lucky Day, Millions game, scratch cards and TOTO) and the Royal Vegas casino (both offline and online). At the beginning of this year, van Dijk already pleaded the following:

“The state government is a shareholder in a number of companies with a public interest. The idea is that this public interest can only be properly safeguarded through state intervention. State participation is evaluated once every seven years. These are individual assessments and not integral assessments of the portfolio as a whole and in context. Nor does it look at what is happening in society and the economy. It is not determined whether other holdings may be more appropriate than the current portfolio. We think that's a miss. Our question is therefore whether the Minister is prepared for this comprehensive assessment of the portfolio, so that we can have a fundamental debate with each other on this.”

Van Dijk therefore advocates reconsidering the interest in Royal Vegas casino and New Zealand Lottery and seeing if it is in the interest of New Zealand and the player, that the government is a shareholder of these two companies. It also argues that it appears that these gaming companies are, by and large, companies where state participation is not essential.

In 2023, the results of this evaluation will be shared and possible consequences will follow.

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