Gambling in New Zealand edited by Bruce Curtis, Dunmore Press, 2002.

• Author: Dooley, Louise
• Position: Book Review

In his contribution to this collection of essays, John Markland beans by saying, "Whatever our view of gaming, it is an integral aspect of our society". Those few words sum up the timeliness and relevance of the information and perspectives contained in Gambling in New Zealand. Gambling or gaming has played a role in shaping our popular culture and even, for some, the definition of leisure. In addition, it is increasingly influencing the volume and source of funding available to the community and voluntary sector. Problem and compulsive gambling, and the downstream effects on the gambler and those associated with them, have also received media coverage in recent years.

Gambling in New Zealand is a collection of 17 very good essays divided into two sections. The first, "Policy Perspectives", includes articles describing government policy and regulation of gaming from historical and contemporary perspectives, and essays that critique government policy from a community development and Treaty of Waitangi perspective. The second section, "Impacts and Audiences", includes essays on topics ranging from gaming and crime, women gamblers, Lotto, and the sunset of the horse-racing industry--in short, the effect of gambling on different sectors of society.

The contributors to this collection come from a broad range of disciplines and both the public and private sector. Contributors write from backgrounds in history, sociology, anthropology, economics, Maori and Pacific health, and community health, women's studies, psychology and film studies. Essays from the Manager of the Department of Internal Affair's Gaming Policy Unit, an independent scholar and the head of Sculpture at Auckland UNITEC are also included.

For those who have read other gaming literature, for instance, David Grant's On a Roll or the excellent history of the TAB, it requires something of a gear shift to enter the territory of Gambling in New Zealand. Overall this is relatively dense material, arguably targeted more to an academic or policy audience than to a layperson interested in gaming: it is a scholarly collection.

In the opening essay, "Pathology, play and politics", the collection's editor Bruce Curtis writes, "Nearly all of the essays in this book attest to the ongoing nature of the debate around gambling and the difficulties confronting policy makers", and notes that the intention of the book is to "provide an opportunity for discussion and well targeted research". Arguably...