Thursday, July 01, 2004
No new laws on internet wagering - Breaking - smh.com.auNo new laws on internet wagering
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By Jason Koutsoukis
Political Correspondent
Canberra
July 2, 2004
A Federal Government report on interactive gambling is believed to have recommended that no new laws are needed to prevent the growth of internet betting in Australia.
The racing industry has vigorously opposed the expansion of overseas-based internet betting services because they do not provide any financial support to the industry.
Companies such as Tabcorp and TAB Ltd have also mounted strong lobbying campaigns to deny overseas betting companies access to Australia - particularly UK-based Betfair.
Victorian Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos called on the Federal Government to ban all internet betting companies under the Interactive Gaming Act, but also to allow state governments to license certain operators.
"If the Federal Government does nothing, then the way the law is at the moment we can't act to regulate it properly and these companies can continue to take bets overseas, where they do not pay Australian tax and where they do not pay any revenue to the local gaming industry," Mr Pandazopoulos said.
State gaming ministers are expected to repeat their call for the Federal Government to act when they attend a special meeting in Melbourne today.
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Government sources have told The Age that a review of the Internet Gambling Act by the Communications Department is expected to make no recommendation for significant changes to the legislation.
Federal cabinet is expected to consider the issue when it next meets on July 14, but ministers are said still to be debating the issue.
"The cabinet are on a fact-finding mission," a source said.
A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Daryl Williams said: "The report of the review of the Interactive Gambling Act is expected to be tabled shortly."
With betting on foreign internet exchanges said to be growing by about $150 million a month, the chairman of the InterChurch Gambling Taskforce, John Dalziel, wrote to Prime Minister John Howard last week urging him to close the foreign agencies.
"We do not want to see another poker machine explosion in problem gambling activity produce another crop of victims as the result of interactive internet gambling," Mr Dalziel said.
In another letter to Mr Howard, Australian Racing Board chairman Robert Charley said internet betting exchanges also allowed people to bet on the possibility of a horse losing.
"Betting exchanges are, by definition, a medium that encourages malpractice and will undermine that public confidence," Mr Charley said.
He said it was essential the Government use its legislative power to ban them
Print this article
Email to a friend
By Jason Koutsoukis
Political Correspondent
Canberra
July 2, 2004
A Federal Government report on interactive gambling is believed to have recommended that no new laws are needed to prevent the growth of internet betting in Australia.
The racing industry has vigorously opposed the expansion of overseas-based internet betting services because they do not provide any financial support to the industry.
Companies such as Tabcorp and TAB Ltd have also mounted strong lobbying campaigns to deny overseas betting companies access to Australia - particularly UK-based Betfair.
Victorian Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos called on the Federal Government to ban all internet betting companies under the Interactive Gaming Act, but also to allow state governments to license certain operators.
"If the Federal Government does nothing, then the way the law is at the moment we can't act to regulate it properly and these companies can continue to take bets overseas, where they do not pay Australian tax and where they do not pay any revenue to the local gaming industry," Mr Pandazopoulos said.
State gaming ministers are expected to repeat their call for the Federal Government to act when they attend a special meeting in Melbourne today.
advertisement
advertisement
Government sources have told The Age that a review of the Internet Gambling Act by the Communications Department is expected to make no recommendation for significant changes to the legislation.
Federal cabinet is expected to consider the issue when it next meets on July 14, but ministers are said still to be debating the issue.
"The cabinet are on a fact-finding mission," a source said.
A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Daryl Williams said: "The report of the review of the Interactive Gambling Act is expected to be tabled shortly."
With betting on foreign internet exchanges said to be growing by about $150 million a month, the chairman of the InterChurch Gambling Taskforce, John Dalziel, wrote to Prime Minister John Howard last week urging him to close the foreign agencies.
"We do not want to see another poker machine explosion in problem gambling activity produce another crop of victims as the result of interactive internet gambling," Mr Dalziel said.
In another letter to Mr Howard, Australian Racing Board chairman Robert Charley said internet betting exchanges also allowed people to bet on the possibility of a horse losing.
"Betting exchanges are, by definition, a medium that encourages malpractice and will undermine that public confidence," Mr Charley said.
He said it was essential the Government use its legislative power to ban them
