Perilous
Times
New Zealand: Depressed earthquake residents turn to
gambling, alcohol and drugs
Tamara McLean, AAP New Zealand Correspondent
May 6, 2011 - 12:04PM
AAP
Residents of quake-devastated Christchurch have turned to
gambling, drugs and heavy drinking in the wake of the disaster
that felled their picturesque town centre and killed 181 people.
New figures show that use of pokie machines has tripled and drugs,
alcohol consumption has skyrocketed since the 6.3-magnitude
earthquake hit New Zealand's second biggest city on February 22.
This is despite the closure of a quarter of the city's pokie
venues, as well as bars along with the exodus of 10,000 residents
after the killer quake.
The surge in gambling, drugs and drinking is worrying New
Zealand's Problem Gambling Foundation, whose spokesman Tony Milne
said venues had been "incredibly busy".
"Right from the start of the day to the end of the day, they were
pretty much full," he said of 15 suburban pubs.
"People are gambling as a relief for all the stresses, or as a
means of escaping. People are also desperate for money and are
trying to increase what little money they have. But if you play
the pokie machines you are going to lose, they design them that
way," he said.
The concerning trend matches with other figures showing
unemployment, problem drinking, rates of depression, violence and
drug use have all spiked in Christchurch since the disaster.
Tourism is down 30 per cent, rents on limited business space have
increased and home values in many suburbs have dropped
dramatically.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand this week confirmed that
thousands of residents fled the city in the month after the quake,
with many displaced families relocating to Australia.
In a speech to the city on Thursday, NZ's revenue minister, Peter
Dunne, said the dire gambling and drinking statistics were "no
surprise".
"I am not at all surprised that gambling on non-casino gaming
machines in Christchurch has increased significantly since the
quake, in much the same way that drinking issues seem to have
risen, and even smoking cessation stalled," The Press reported Mr
Dunne as saying.
"We are dealing with a lot of stressed people, and human nature
can often take us to our weaknesses and frailties at times of
extraordinary pressure and strain," he said.
The city's Salvation Army spokesman Peter Jamieson also confirmed
the problem and said there was a real concern as to how agencies
will cope with the "splurge".
The New Zealand government has pledged to spend $NZ8.5 billion
($A6.33 billion) on rebuilding and supporting Christchurch through
its recovery from the quake, the country's biggest natural
disaster in 80 years.