Lotto: Our $20 billion dollar addiction

Friday, 25 August 2017

Frances Campbell, 81, enjoys the excitement of Lotto and has played religiously for the past 30 years.

Twenty billion dollars.

It could get you 42 gleaming Christchurch Convention Centres.

Lotto has been running in NZ for 30 years, with over $20 billion in sales.

Or 20 Dunedin Hospital rebuilds.

Maybe you'd prefer eight shiny new four-lane, 102km Waikato expressways.

Even Auckland would have trouble spending that much cash with it buying 20,000 average priced houses in the city.

But instead, we've spent it all on Lotto tickets.

Kiwis have pumped $20.8 billion dollars into their dream of easy money over the 30 years since Lotto arrived.

* Waikato Lotto winner a $1 million better off

* Auckland couple struggling to buy a house scoop record $44 million prize on Lotto**

And our frenzy for gambling isn't slowing down anytime soon, with the highest sales to date over $1.2 billion chalked up last year, prompting some to question the nation's collective addiction to a Saturday night flutter.

But Lotto NZ chief executive Wayne Pickup said the lottery had become part of the Kiwi way of life.

Lotto has also given $10 billion in prizes, and $4.3 billion donated to 3000 organisations and community projects.

Last year $272 million was returned back to the community.

'For 30 years now, Lotto has given our players a chance to imagine what they would do if they won.'

'From upgrading community centres and sporting grounds to restoring national monuments, commemorating our WWI heroes, and keeping Kiwis safe outdoors, Lotto players are helping make good things happen in our communities,' Pickup said.

But ethical issues lie within Lotto funding, Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand communications director Andree Froude said.

'A lot of worthy causes get money from gambling, but it still does raise an ethical question - should we be funding worthy causes through gambling that can particularly harm people?

In bad times, people spend more on gambling - especially the poor.

In the 2008/09 financial year, Lotto sales skyrocketed as the Global Financial Crisis hit. They leapt to $907 million, from roughly $780 million in the previous year.

'Lotto sells a dream. People want to buy into that dream, people will be buying into that elusive dream hoping it will solve their problems.'

She said Lotto has become normalised and accessible.

'I think people sometimes think Lotto isn't a type of gambling.

'You can get tickets at any age at the supermarket, online, it's advertised everywhere, in your face, encouraging you.'

Big jackpots are a concern too, Froude said.

In November last year the biggest single ticket prize was $44 million in Auckland. Earlier this year a couple in Thames won $27 million.

'The odds in winning are actually not that great and people do forget that,' Froude said.

'Big jackpots is when you can see people spending more than they can afford.

'A change in people's behaviour drives Lotto tickets. You only need to see that with the queues at Lotto counters.'

She said pokie machines - giving you that instant result - and scratchies, are the most harmful form of gambling.

'You put your money in and seconds later you get a result. That has an effect on the brain.

'But with Lotto, you buy a ticket and you have to wait for the outcome.'

She said most people can afford Lotto - but it can become harmful when they're spending more than they can afford.

'So many people regularly buy tickets they can afford and that's fine. But we do sometimes have people who develop problems with Lotto.

'Sometimes it won't be their main form of gambling, but they buy a ticket to get themselves out of a bigger issue with another gambling problem.'

The Waikato has spent $571 million on Lotto in the last decade with Hamilton the luckiest spot.

The city can boast 186 first division winners, netting a total of $101.5 million.

Frances Campbell has played Lotto since it began and purchases a $14 Lucky Dip religiously every week.

The 81-year-old from Tokoroa said her biggest win was $600, which came in handy for her upcoming trips to Australia.

Although it's never been an outrageous amount, she enjoys the excitement of Lotto.

'I enjoy it for the simple reason,I can't hope to win anything if I don't buy a ticket,' she said.

'I don't wait until next week, I watching it live and find it exciting to see if I have the hot little numbers in my hand.'

She said her local church group also apply for Lotto grants every year for a day trip out with the elderly members of the parish.

'It can do a lot of good. It's only when you get hooked and spend more than you should, there's the danger. But I'm not in that category.'