The New Zealand secretary of internal affairs, who is responsible for SkyCity Casino’s licence suspension application has requested that it be suspended by the Department of Internal Affairs of New Zealand for a period of approximately 10 days.
New Zealand Gambling Act section 144 (a) was used to make the application.
This section gives the Secretary the power to request that a Casino Licence be suspended by the Commission if he believes the New Zealand Gambling Act or licence conditions have been violated.
This application is for SkyCity Casino Management Limited. SCML is SkyCity’s New Zealand operator license for SkyCity Auckland and SkyCity Hamilton.
Continuous play is a common occurrence
A former SkyCity Auckland client made a complaint to the Department on February 20, 2022. Customer gambled in the Auckland Casino from August 2017 until February 2021.
According to the secretary, SCML failed to “comply” with its SkyCity Auckland host responsibility programme. The secretary says that this is related to the “detection” of incidents of continual play by customers.
Now, the Commission must decide if it will suspend SCML’s licence. The Commission could decide to consider the written submissions or even hold an hearing. It could take months to complete this process.
SkyCity stated in a press release that it will not make any further comments on this matter.
The statement read: “SkyCity is committed to working with the Secretary in order to resolve the issue.” SkyCity will not comment on this application or the allegations until the Commission has reviewed it.
SkyCity hits another bump
SkyCity has had a busy year. Austrac (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) will launch federal proceedings in December 2022 against SkyCity. SkyCity Adelaide failed to implement anti-money laundering measures.
SkyCity, South Australia’s gaming regulator, Consumer and Business Services (CBS), ordered SkyCity to review its anti-terrorist funding and AML programs in May.
SkyCity, a leading Australian entertainment company, announced last month that they had set aside AU$45m to cover a civil penalty they assumed from Austrac.
