In June 1964 the Minister of Internal Affairs announced the inauguration of a “Mammoth Golden Kiwi” lottery to be run on the lines of the Golden Kiwi. There would be 250,000 tickets at £1 each, with 2,886 prizes (£135,000 in all), the first prize being £60,000. Four of these “Mammoth” lotteries are planned for each year. Profits are to be devoted to national purposes and those from the first lottery will be used to develop projects dealing with the welfare of elderly people. Although certain church organisations made strong protests at this extension of gambling, the official attitude was that the “Mammoth” lottery would be a counter to those run overseas, with the added advantage that all profits would be retained within New Zealand.

The demand for these tickets has been so great that, on 27 May 1965, the Minister of Internal Affairs announced that Golden Kiwi Mammoth Lottery tickets would be continuously available to the public for a trial period. This step was taken because the Government felt that the relative infrequency of such lotteries tended to create an artificial demand for tickets.

by William Mouat Bolt, Executive Officer, Gaming Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.