11570 (2025). Benjamin Doyle to the Minister of Internal Affairs

11570 (2025). Benjamin Doyle to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What estimates, reports or statistics, if any, does the Ministry hold on the increase in numbers of persons gambling as a result of regulating online casinos?

Hon Brooke van Velden: With reference to my response to written parliamentary question 11571 (2025), as this is currently an unregulated market, it is difficult to quantify how many people are expected to shift to licensed gambling operators under the new regime. Once the licensing system is in place, the regulator will collect data from licence holders about the number of New Zealanders that have accounts with them. This will provide a baseline by which to assess any increase or decrease in online casino gambling over time. The number of New Zealanders participating in online casino gambling has increased in an unregulated market. The purpose of regulating this sector is to enable New Zealanders, who wish to play casino games online, to do so more safely than they can today with licensed operators that have been vetted by the Government.