NIA - "The tip of the Iceberg."

The Rotorua High Court jury hearing the case of Nia Glassie was told this week that Nia's mother was seen at the pokie machines past 1am, a couple of nights every week.

This follows closely a report by the Northern Advocate earlier this month where a Whangarei mother has been charged after allegedly leaving her baby boy alone in a car while she played the pokie machines in a hotel bar.

"Pokie machines appear to be playing a significant role in adding to our tragic child abuse history in addition to our overall crime statistics",says Graeme Ramsey, CEO of Problem Gambling Foundation.

What we know is that in 1997 women made up 29% of referrals for treatment for problem gambling and in 2004 they overtook men as the biggest user of problem gambling services , according to Ministry of Health statistics. This is a huge growth in 11 years.

According to Ministry of Health statistics, Maori and Pacific Island women have a far higher incidence of problem gambling .Their overwhelming mode of gambling that causes the problem is pokie machine playing.

In a recent report from The Department of Internal Affairs, poor parenting and family violence are cited as harmful side effects from problem gambling . The sections of the community which are most at risk are people living in high deprivation areas.

Our commitment as a community must be to eradicate child abuse in New Zealand. What is clear is that to do so will involve reducing the impact of pokie machines on New Zealand Families.