OVERHAUL OF GAMING LAWS

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20691, 29 December 1938, Page 6

OVERHAUL OF GAMING LAWS

Comprehensive overhaul of the gaming laws of New Zealand, with particular reference to horse racing, is intended by the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, and will be welcomed not only by those directly interested in the sport but by the public generally. It has been admitted for years that the laws in many respects are crassly anomolous, unfair and unreasonable, but no Government so far has had the courage to attempt the overhaul now proposed by Mr Parry. Almost every year a private Bill has appeared in Parliament in an attempt to remove the most glaring anomalies, but always the House has been too timid to commit itself.

There is a very general fear, particularly among the churches, that an overhaul of .’he laws may increase the facilities for gambling, to the detriment of the public interests. That opinion is entitled to respect, and for that reason the Minister’s statement that a judge of the Supreme Court will be appointed to preside at the inquiry will be welcomed. No persons in New Zealand are better qualified to bring ripe judgment to hear on the problem than the experienced judges of the Supreme Court, several of whom have already expressed dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs. It is essential that all sections of the public should be heard before the inquiry, so that racing may be placed on a more reasonable footing and that the most beneficial system of control can be instituted. The law as it stands is indefensible. For instance, the law forbids the operation of private bookmakers, yet everyone knows that bookmakers are more active now than ever before. Again, the law forbids the publication of “dividends,” yet a few minutes after every race the dividend is known all over the country. In these two instances and in many others the law has completely failed in its objective, and its review is long overdue. If the Minister carries out his intention, every phase of the problem can be thoroughly discussed and a decision arrived at on a basis of public morality and of justice.