A Wellington pub's decision to set upsmoker-friendly outdoor
pokie machines reached the court today, with the Department
for Internal Affairs asking for advice on how the move
affects the pub's licence.
The department sought a declaratory judgment in Wellington
High Court following a Gambling Commission decision to allow
the Kilbirnie Tavern to operate gaming machines in a
courtyard smoking area.
They asked the court to determine whether the pub, by
allowing gambling where smoking takes place, was fulfilling
licensing obligations of minimising the risk of problem
gambling.
The outcome of the case would guide the department in its
decision over whether pokies in the smoking area would have
to be shut down or not.
Department lawyer Francis Cooke said the two addictive
behaviours of smoking and gambling had been overtly conjoined
and advertised.
"(The pub) is saying `come in and smoke and game'."
In a decision last year, the Gambling Commission ruled that
licence conditions could not be imposed to make gambling less
attractive generally in order to appeal less to problem
gamblers.
The department imposed the licensing condition to minimise
harm, and said because of the link between problem gambling
and smoking, preventing smoking while using the machines
would encourage problem gamblers to take regular breaks from
gaming to allow for reflection on the habit.
Mr Cooke argued that although legislation did not
specifically state that smoking and gambling could not take
place in the same area, this was because no-one could have
thought of a situation where gaming machines would be brought
into an outdoor space.
"Nobody could have foreseen the ingenuity of the Kilbirnie
Tavern in combining the two," he said.
"You have to admire the ingenuity of those people who sat
around and have come up with this way of putting electronic
machines outside -- putting a hole in the wall and turning
the machines around."
The hearing continues tomorrow.
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