Increases to the proportion of revenue clubs and bars with pokie machines give to community groups will be delayed under a new Government proposal.
Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne said the possible breathing room for pokie operators came as they faced increasing financial pressure.
The rise of online gaming, lower drunk drive limits and stricter rules were possible factors he said.
"The levels of funding to the community from class 4 gambling have dropped significantly in real terms since 2004," Mr Dunne said in a speech to the Hospitality Association's annual conference in Nelson.
"We need to rethink the proportion of proceeds that societies give to the community. Some societies could go out of business because of the combination of higher fees, other cost pressures and a high proportion of proceeds required to be given back to the community.
To which the response is "so what"? Pokie trusts are parasites. The trustees drive BMWs paid for by the poor communities they exploit. The sector is riven with fraud and other crime, and tends to redistribute money upwards, from poor communities to wealthy ones. If they go out of business, no-one should shed a single tear for them. If we're concerned about maintaining the pool of grant money, then we should be making other forms of gambling pay more, rather than letting pokie parasites off the hook.
As for Dunne, once again he looks like a total tool of the hospitality industry. And if he's upset about people saying that, maybe he should change our minds by changing his decisions.