Five Million Voices

Should New Zealand create a licensing regime allowing up to 15 vetted operators to run and advertise online casino gambling, with tax, levy, age-verification and harm-minimisation requirements?

The bill would establish a licensing system administered by the Department of Internal Affairs allowing up to 15 vetted operators to conduct and advertise online casino gambling, while prohibiting unlicensed operators. It was defeated at first reading.

MPs’ arguments for and against the bill

Why support it
  • Supporters argued that licensing up to 15 vetted operators would channel the estimated 156,000 New Zealanders already gambling on offshore sites towards regulated platforms with harm minimisation and consumer protection requirements.
  • Supporters said the bill would require operators to verify players are aged 18 and over and to exclude problem gamblers, addressing harms not currently controlled on unregulated offshore sites.
  • Supporters noted that licensed operators would contribute 1.24 percent of profits to the problem gambling levy and pay GST and gambling duty, funding support services and the Crown, with penalties up to $5 million for breaches.
Why oppose it
  • Opponents argued the bill prioritised tax revenue over harm reduction and that its consumer protection and harm-minimisation measures were vague and should be set out more strongly in primary legislation.
  • Opponents said allowing up to 15 licences risked saturating the market and increasing exposure to gambling harm, particularly for Māori, Pasifika, and other communities overrepresented in gambling harm.
  • Opponents argued the bill failed to meaningfully engage tangata whenua and ignored advice from harm-reduction advocates, including calls to ban gambling advertising.

These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

The Online Casino Gambling Bill creates New Zealand's first licensing and regulatory regime for online casino gambling — internet-based games of chance such as slots (pokies), table games like roulette and blackjack, and peer-to-peer games like poker. Until now, New Zealand-based operators cannot legally offer this "remote interactive gambling," even though many New Zealanders already play on offshore websites that sit outside local oversight. The bill lets the Department of Internal Affairs issue a limited number of three-year licences (up to 15, with no operator holding more than three), allocate them through a competitive process, and set fees as a percentage of the gross gambling revenue earned from New Zealand players. Licensed operators must serve only people aged 18 and over, run harm-minimisation and consumer-protection systems, follow strict advertising rules, and face penalties up to $5 million for breaches. The aim is to bring an existing offshore market onshore, tax it, and reduce gambling harm.

The bill is a Government bill advanced through the Department of Internal Affairs, responding to the growth of unregulated offshore online casinos that New Zealanders already use without protections or local tax. Supporters argue that regulation is more realistic than an unenforceable ban: licensing lets the state impose age checks, harm-minimisation tools, advertising limits and problem-gambling safeguards, while capturing tax revenue that currently flows untaxed overseas. Opponents, including many public-health and problem-gambling advocates, worry that legalising and advertising online casinos will normalise a highly addictive form of gambling, expand overall harm, and divert money away from the community grants that pokie trusts currently fund. Debate has also focused on whether the harm-minimisation and advertising restrictions are strong enough, and on how licence fees and any levy for problem-gambling services should be set.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.

Oppose (No) Support (Yes)

Online Casino Gambling Bill · Third Reading, 22 Apr 2026
Parliament voted 68–54 — it passed. (Provisional — from Hansard’s uncorrected transcript.)