"The message from communities was loud and clear: if we’re regulating online gambling, they want to see benefits flow back to local sports clubs, community groups and grassroots organisations," Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said.
"I have listened and now, as a government, we are delivering on what matters most to communities across the country."
Losing community funding from existing gaming foundations was a big fear for many groups with the introduction of the Bill.
"Without grants from gaming foundations the club would need to increase its subscriptions ... taking the cost per rower to over $2000," a submission on the Bill from the Oamaru Rowing Club stated.
"An increase to this level would simply be unaffordable to rowers and their families.
"The club would lose membership, compromising its viability and sustainability.
"More critically, [the number of] young athletes from all socio-economic [backgrounds] would reduce, resulting in less community benefit due to the sport and all the life skills and value it brings being available only to those that could afford its high costs."
A submission from Oamaru Marist Athletic Rugby Football Club president Mark Herron also backed the need for community funds.
"Without this support, we risk losing access to rugby for many of our community members.
"We respectfully ask that this Bill be amended to guarantee that a portion of any legalised online gambling revenue is allocated to community funding, including community sport."
The Lower Waitaki Golf Club submitted it would "not exist" without the annual grants it received from gaming foundations and suggested that a requirement was needed to ensure some revenue from online gambling be "shared with the community".
"Sport is being affected financially and socially by the digital era.
"The shift to online gambling should not add to that pressure by dodging the obligation to share revenue."
Ms van Velden said ensuring there was community funding would not compromise the government’s commitment to reducing gambling harm.
The proposed change increases the offshore gambling duty from 12% to 16%, with 4% ring-fenced specifically for community returns — creating an entirely new funding stream.
"While I am confident the regulated online casino market will provide new community funding opportunities for New Zealand sports clubs and community organisations, I do acknowledge that predicting the exact impact on existing class 4 [pokies] returns creates some uncertainty.
"Cabinet has agreed on a two-year review after implementation of the community returns policy to assess the impact of online casino gambling on other forms of gambling and community returns," she said.
"This evidence-based review will inform necessary adjustments allowing us to make informed policy decisions based on real-world data in future."
This would be new money on top of existing funding from pokies, Lotto and TAB, she said.
"We’re not taking anything away — we’re adding to what’s already there."
"Right now, Kiwis are gambling on thousands of overseas websites with no safety nets, no spending limits, and no recourse when things go wrong.
"That’s unacceptable," Ms van Velden said.
