We Say/You Say: Pokie Machines
Hi Upper Hutt,
Should pokie machines be outlawed?
A city councillor has put forward a policy to ban new permits for pokie machines in Wellington City.
Councillor Tamatha Paul, representing the Lambton Ward, is pushing for a 'sinking lid' policy to all but cease new permits for pokie machines in the city. The motion has widespread support across the council table and is set to pass this Thursday.
New Zealanders lost $939 million in pokie machines in 2019 and $241m of that was paid out to community and sports groups. Between 30 and 60 per cent of money going into pokie machines was from problem gamblers and much of that came from low socio-economic communities, a paper by the Problem Gambling Foundation said.
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: Are you still heading to your local for your caffeine fix, or has the $$ changed your habits? ☕
Wellington’s identity is built on its cafe culture, but with costs climbing, that culture is under pressure. We’ve seen the headlines about recent closures, and it’s a tough pill to swallow along with a $6+ coffee.
We all want our favourite spots to stay open, but we also have to balance our own budgets ⚖️
We want to know: How are you handling the "coffee math" in 2026? Are you still heading to your local for a chat and a caffeine fix, or has the cost of living changed your habits?
Keen to read more about "coffee math"? The Post has you covered.
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43.5% I avoid spending money on coffee
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46.4% I still indulge at my local cafe
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10.1% Irrelevant - coffee is not for me
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