Waiheke House Competition is Illegal

On Island Life on Sat 7th August we ran a story about Temo Van Tongeren, a Waiheke Islander running a competition to give away his house. You can hear  that interview here. Today Waiheke Radio  recieved the following statement from Department of Internal Affairs:

Internal Affairs’ Director of Gambling Compliance, Mike Hill, says the website competition offering a house, car and boat on Waiheke Island as the prize is illegal and the Department has told the organiser to stop the promotion.

Temo Van Tongeren of Surfdale, Waiheke Island, marketed his fundraiser as the ‘Win a Waiheke Island Lifestyle’ competition. The Department says this is “remote interactive gambling” under s 9(2) (b) of the Gambling Act 2003. Only the Lotteries Commission and the TAB are allowed to operate online gambling in New Zealand.

Mike Hill said Mr Van Tongeren took immediate steps to prevent people entering his competition after the Department contacted him and his willingness to cooperate was acknowledged.

“We warned Mr Van Tongeren that any future fund raising must be conducted within the law,” Mike Hill said.