SkyCity convention centre bill to be given reading in Parliament

 
The New Zealand government and SkyCity signed a contract worth $402 million on July 5 for the casino operator to build a convention centre in exchange for expanding its gambling operations. Under the terms of the deal, SkyCity will be allowed to add 230 more slot machines, 40 more gaming tables and new cashless gambling technology to its Auckland casino.  Prime Minister John Key said the introduction of the New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill would increase slot machine numbers by 8.2 percent and table numbers by 20 percent.  At present, the government has a parliamentary majority of just one  and the bill is opposed by all other parties. The Department of Internal Affairs also released a paper on the potential harm of gambling, indicating that 87,000 adults experienced some kind of problems related to gambling - 33% of those were said to involve gaming machines, while 8.1% said table games were involved.