Invercargill councillors have gone against staff advice and chosen a cap rather than a sinking lid as the preferred option in the city's draft gambling venues policy.

The council is required to review its Gambling Venues Policy every three years. A committee met this week to decide which option to put forward for public consultation, which runs from 28 October to 29 November and will include a hearing.

A staff report described a sinking lid as the best option for reducing harm. Under a sinking lid, venues cannot relocate, merge or transfer machines, so numbers fall over time as venues close. A cap holds numbers at current levels.

The Problem Gambling Foundation and the National Public Health Service also supported the sinking lid.

The committee instead adopted the draft policy with a cap, subject to confirmation by the full council.

Councillors split

Cr Lisa Tou-McNaughton backed a sinking lid, saying community wellbeing should be central to the council's decisions. "A sinking lid policy puts community well-being first as a gradual approach, reducing access over time," she said.

Cr Marcus Lush also supported the sinking lid, describing himself as "no fan of pokie machines".

Mayor Tom Campbell argued for the cap, saying a sinking lid risked keeping older venues in place.

Cr Steve Broad leaned towards the status quo, while acknowledging a sinking lid was potentially the more defensible position.

Losses rising

Invercargill has 226 gaming machines across 15 Class 4 venues, numbers that have not changed since September 2020. Over the same period, machine numbers nationally fell 8 per cent and venue numbers 11 per cent.

Annual losses on Invercargill's machines rose 8 per cent over the three years to June 2026, from $17.5 million to $18.9 million.

Nationally, players lost $2.71 billion across Lotto, TAB, casinos and Class 4 machines in 2024/25. The Ministry of Health estimates about one in five New Zealanders experiences gambling harm in their lifetime, with harm almost three times higher among Māori and Pacific communities.

The council previously operated a sinking lid but declined to return to it at the last review of the policy.

Submissions on the draft policy open on Wednesday 28 October and close on 29 November. A hearing will follow before the council makes its final decision on the policy that will apply for the next three years.