Govt goes to war against pokies but gambles on Putin keeping his hands off the button and takes a punt with business investments

Buzz from the Beehive

At first blush, our protection and wellbeing was high in the Ardern government’s considerations in the latest batch of statements posted on the Beehive website.

One statement was posted in the name of the Minister of Internal Affairs, who is determined to protect us from the evils of gambling; the other was posted in the name of the Minister of Defence, whose portfolio title implies a commitment to protecting us from a menace much greater than pokie machines..

One other announcement came from the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio.

In this case, the minister is promoting the interests of favoured Pacific business people, rather than protecting the populace generally.

Sio draws attention to $15.5 million in Budget 2022 that is being used

… to meet community demand volumes for services to support Pacific businesses and Pacific social enterprises across Aotearoa.