Sky City will get fewer than 483 new pokie machines in convention centre deal, PM Key says
A deal being negotiated between the government to allow Sky City more pokie machines in return for building a convention centre in Auckland now has a cap on the amount of new machines the casino will be granted.
Prime Minister John Key this morning told TVNZ's Breakfast programme that 483 pokie machines throughout New Zealand would be decommissioned this year under the government's sinking lid policy, and that Sky City would not be getting more than that.
Goldman Sachs New Zealand analyst Marcus Curley said in a note on the deal last month that Sky City would need at least 350 new machines for the NZ$350 million convention centre - which the government does not want to help fund - to pay off.
7 Comments
Spot on Zaphod T F.......but it is a Corporate excercise in control...they want it all , they want it now, and they have a sympathetic ear to their demands.
Barry's quote of the week....Corporates are not people,people are people..!!!
Of course John Boy knows only the way of the machine....he helped Fonterra get where they are today....ah not wait ,...bad example there....He's helping Corporatise the Christchurch recovery....ah no wait another bad example....
Anyway safe to say he's not listening to Barry O"
People must get over the Sky City casino extension issue . I have been to Sky City casino and its mostly the well heeled and foreigners there gambling .
They should focus thier ire on the pokie machines at places like Clendoon shopping centre where the Tavern and TAB is full all day long, patronised by those who really cannot afford it
Last time I went to sky city Casino there were plenty of spare machines, not sure how another 483 are going to cause more problem gambling.
I wonder if removing machines in total from locations will probably have more of an effect on reducing problem gambling then reducing the number at each location.
Question, because I don't know the answer, will the licences come with any restrictions as to location? In other words, would Sky City have to install any additional pokie machines on their own premises (be that the Casino or new Convention centre) or could it sublet them back to the Lions Clubs and other community groups for use in pubs and sports clubsetc?
Appart from the many other issues arround this I can't see the justification for granting a concession for 483 extra pokies. I have seen a figure from Goldmans that quotes a profit of $140,000 per machine. (this is significantly less than that achieved in Australia so it is very possibly understated to favour Sky). Anyway at $140,000 per pokie the total extra Sky profit is close to $67 million per year for 483 machines. The investment for Sky is $350 million. This means in the first year of operation the profit would be about 19% from the pokies alone. Surely the convention centre will make some profit also. This would increase the profit figure further! The above figures apply to the first year or two. Over time depreciation and various accounting factors will enhance the profit further. I do not believe that it is any where near appropriate that a government should be doing sweet heart deals with private sector companies that are so obviously above normally prevailing buisness rates of return. This whole thing looks shonky,
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