Australian Government's response to Online Punting

[Fedya Fussball]

Call to freeze Internet betting

By Toni O'Loughlin - Sydney Morning Herald YLINE>


A moratorium should be imposed on Internet gambling, and the use of credit cards to punt online should be banned, a government report recommended yesterday.

Australia's 290,000 problem gamblers each lose $12,000 a year, according to the
Government's online gambling report Netbet.

The problem is destined to get worse as a result of rapid technological development, according to the report.

Instead of going to the club to play the pokies or dropping into the TAB to have a
punt, gamblers will soon be able to get tips, place bets, check their accounts and watch
a horse race from a hand-held device, the report predicts.

Betting on networked games, interactive TV quiz shows and gambling directly over the
phone are also on the way.

The growing ease and lure of betting online prompted the Senate committee, which
wrote the Netbet report, to call for stricter regulation of Internet gambling by limiting the number of online gambling licences to 14 until steps could be taken to protect gamblers.

In addition to banning the use of credit cards for placing an online bet, the report
also recommends limiting gambling times, setting pre-determined betting amounts,
outlawing manipulative messages that entice the players to keep betting, and paying
winners in cheques, rather than cash.

Despite concerns about the growth of chronic gambling among Australians, the
report points out that local online gambling is fuelled by offshore punters.

"Currently Australian-based gamblers comprise a small proportion of the online
gambling market." the report says.

"Locally based operators are experiencing rapid growth mainly due to increasing
gambling activity from overseas- based gamblers."

Centrebet, said to be the second online betting site in the world, is ranked among
the top five world gambling sites, recording between 20,000 and 100,000 hits a day.

Lasseter's Casino in Alice Spring also operates an online gambling outlet which is
expected to rake in $6.6 million this financial year, compared to $22 million it expects to earn through its hotel facilities.

While local players would be restricted if the report's recommendations were introduced, offshore punters would have free rein on Australian Internet sites. And better regulation of online licensing is likely to encourage overseas gamblers.

"A consumer will choose to gamble with an online gambling operator if they feel confident that their winnings will be paid and their personal details are protected,"
the report says.

"A strict regulatory scheme that ensures probity and protects consumers will have strong appeal."

Online gambling operators welcomed the report. Centrebet's sports betting manager, Mr Gerard Duffy, said: "Whether the authorities like it or not, online gaming and wagering is a fact of life, so it may as well be conducted in a regulated environment."

But Liberal members of the committee, Senator Jeannie Ferris and Senator John
Tierney, and Independent Senator Brian Harradine called for online gambling to be banned and for a moratorium on new licences for five years.

It was unacceptable for Australia to be exposed to the new technology before it was
thoroughly assessed, Senator Tierney said..

[Jeff]

Maybe we can export Sen. Kyl to Australia.......

Another gov't taking a look at what's best for the minority, not the majority.

Kind of sickening that governemt feels the need to tell us what's good for us and what isn't.......

[AussieVamp2]

Although the biggest betting agencies are
government run, couple of them online already, and Victorian TAB wants to be online as well, so as far as I can see, they will be against any moratoriums, which should make it interesting, as they have been trying to get their arse into gear to get online betting going for ages

[Cons]

Hopefully the Australian government won't shoot itself in the foot... I think the hype will die down and the only thing that will happen is increased regulation.

[LysanderSpooner]

Notice that the article says that it is "Liberal members of the committee" that are calling "for online gambling to be banned." This proves that the Liberal Soccer Moms that control Australia's politicians are just as authoritarian and evil as the Conservative Church Ladies that give power to America's politicians.

Choose your masters:

Left or Right,
Stalin or Hitler,
Hillary or Guliani

[reno]

Just like the Who sing, "Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss."

Countries like the USA and Australia start out as cowboy-type countries for freedom-loving people. Then, gradually, over time, government, like the cancer it is, continues to grow and exert ever more control over the lives of its citizens. It not only drains them of a higher and higher percentage of their money via taxes, it also tells them how to live their lives.

Churches are a racket because they pay no taxes, and instead collect tithes and
"donations" (read: taxes) from their sheep-like flock. The Mafia is a racket that extorts money from businesses and people. But at least there is no pretense about who they are. The Government, however, is the biggest racket of all. They, and they alone, have a license to print money, a license to extort money via taxes, and the right to control how citizens live their lives. Then, they attempt to brainwash everyone through never-ending propaganda and the public school system.

The difference between Republicans and Democrats nowadays is infinitesmal. The choice available to voters is a joke. They have both moved toward the center because that is how to win elections. Because the general public is so brainwashed and flock-like, a free-thinking, freedom-loving progressive Libertarian-type candidate will never have a chance. Consequently, I have very little interest in politics, and prefer to spend my time suffering what St. John on the Cross called "the dark night of the soul."

[JMKoolKat]

Online gambling? What about all those facist franchised casinos in Australia that are are given out by government politicians to their friends?

[Fred]

Just to clarify, despite the name the Liberal Party is actually Australia's conservative political party = English Tories roughly

[LysanderSpooner]

Fred, Thanks for the clarification.
What are the name(s) of the major liberal parties in Australia? Whigs? Social Democrats? Do you know which party the Soccer Moms (who promoted things like Australia's gun prohibition) belong to.

[j]

Fred,

Is there in Australia a party that would roughly map to what in the U.S. is called the Libertarian Party (classical liberalism, anti-tax, pro-consensuality of any form...)?

[AussieVamp2]

the other major party is the Labor Party

there are probably some fringe libertarians around, but they would be taken about as seriously as the Natural Law party, and would get as many votes

in Australia, the overwhelming majority in all parties are in favor of not having mass shootings - so I guess that makes the Prime Minister a soccer mom?

[AussieVamp2]

the Liberal party is part of a conservative coalition with the National (somewhat rural focus supposedly) Party, as they are unable to rule in their own right

our checks and balances party is the Democrats, who we tend to give a fair amount of power to, but only in the Senate

[boris]

While government depts in Australia come up with all sort of ridiculous reports, such as this one, there's more chance of Monica Lewinsky becoming the Pope than a ban on internet gambling in Australia going through. The governments simply make too much money from the tax revenue, and gambling is part of Australian culture. Preventative measures to stop problem gamblers perhaps, but to be honest, these types of people are generally casino/pokies players rather than sport or racing punters. The problem of 24hr pokies and casino venues generates 50 times the number of 'addicts' than sportsbooks.

Independent senator Brian Harradine feeds on his own power, he only exists to get his name in the press, victim of the small-man syndrome.

[LysanderSpooner]

AussieVamp - In America, the spectrum of authoritarianism ranges from extreme Church Lady-ism on the right to radical Soccer Mom-ism on the left. In the name of protecting their churrrrldren from Sin, America's Church Ladies install politicians like Jesse Helms and Orin Hatch to violate every individual right having anything to do with sex, drugs, and gambling.

Likewise, in the name of protecting their churrrrldren from cuts, bruises, poverty, gunshots, and second hand smoke, America's Soccer Moms install politicians to trample my rights to ride a bicycle without a helmet, protect myself from the ATF, or smoke cigarettes in my own place of business. Sometimes, like in the cases of Senators Feinstein and Boxer from California, instead of having wimpy men do their bidding, they install politicians who are actually fat faced Soccer Mom looking creatures themselves.

On a trip to Australia (a country that I thought was free of Church Ladies), I was amazed to find not only left wing tyranny but nearly every form of right wing tyranny too. Every day that I was there, at least 4 major drug bust stories were featured in the newspapers. Only 1 full scale gambling casino is tolerated per state!

My conclusion is that if somehow all of America's Soccer Moms disappeared and America's Church Ladies were given complete run of the place, then they, in turn, would happily retain the bicycle helmet laws, tobacco laws, and victim disarmament laws.

And I'm afraid you're right, in Australia as in America, individual personal and economic freedom is a still a fringe idea that gets few votes.

[Fred]

LysanderSpooner

Apologies for not responding sooner, i've been away awhile but I notice AussieVamp2 and boris responded.

Roughly speaking the Church Ladies are the Liberal Party and the Soccer Moms (or Mums as we say) are the Labor party. There is no equivalent for the party you describe. i've been reading Ayn Rand, does she fit the bill? -- that kind of philosophy, P.J. O'Rourke? Do some of the non-religious parts of the Repuclican party come close?

Anyway, it would also be hypocritical of the government here to ban internet betting when so much of their revenue comes from gambling taxes (a reason that will probably not see a ban go through)