NZ Youth Press Candidates On Gambling Ad Limits
Young people in Auckland put three New Zealand election candidates on the spot over online gambling advertising on October 2, 2026, at a panel organised by the Problem Gambling Foundation, Asian Family Services and Mapu Maia, according to RNZ, which covered the event directly.
The Green Party's Ricardo Menendez March, New Zealand First's Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri and National's Greg Fleming fielded questions from young attendees who said they had grown up surrounded by online gambling advertising and watched friends gamble away limited student incomes.
Where The Candidates Agreed, And Didn't
All three candidates agreed gambling advertising should not be allowed to target under-18s. Menendez March said the Green Party was committed to introducing an outright ban on online gambling advertisements, arguing current marketing rules mainly benefit the companies profiting from gambling harm. Eden-Whaitiri said New Zealand First takes a "pragmatic" view that gambling exists but should never target children.
Fleming pointed to the government's Online Casino Gambling Bill, under which the 15 offshore online casinos newly licensed to operate in New Zealand must run a harm-prevention strategy, verify users are at least 18, and follow advertising restrictions, as the government's main lever so far for addressing online gambling harm.
Campaigners Say The Rules Don't Go Far Enough
Problem Gambling Foundation chief executive Melissa Thompson said the current restrictions fail to address the volume or frequency of gambling advertising young people are exposed to. "It's so visible, it's in young people's pockets, it's in their phones, it's on their desktops," she said, calling for stronger advertising rules covering not just online casinos.
The panel followed a Scoop News notice confirming the event would also feature Labour's Lemauga Lydia Sosene, and comes against a backdrop of New Zealand research cited by organisers showing 44% of 15-to-24-year-olds gambled in the past year, with around 26,000 young people in that age group classified as moderate-to-high-risk gamblers.
A Fast-Changing Regulatory Backdrop
The Online Casino Gambling Bill the candidates referenced this year allows up to 15 offshore online casino operators to hold licenses to operate legally in New Zealand for the first time, provided they verify users are at least 18, run a harm-prevention strategy, and follow the country's advertising restrictions. Before the Bill, offshore online casinos operated in an unregulated gray area with no license requirement at all.
Maori public health organisation Hapai Te Hauora launched its own anti-gambling-advertising campaign in 2025 aimed at Maori and Pasifika communities, where organisers say young men are often disproportionately targeted by betting platform marketing.
Earlier reporting by RNZ on university students has found some are taking on debt because of sports betting promotions and "live play" in-game betting features, prompting repeated calls from the Problem Gambling Foundation for personal responsibility to be paired with much stricter advertising limits rather than relied on alone.
Where The Panel Was Held
Friday's panel, billed as "Level Up" and moderated by broadcaster Simon Shepherd, was held at the Jack Dickey Community Hall in Greenlane, Auckland, and also included Labour's Lemauga Lydia Sosene among the invited panellists, according to the event notice published by Scoop News ahead of the session.
