❓ WA government expresses strong opposition to Betfair and NT corporate bookmakers due to integrity concerns and potential financial harm to the WA racing industry, seeking federal intervention and planning restrictive legislation.
AnsweredQoN 697Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Tasmanian government’s decision to grant a licence to online betting exchange operator Betfair. What is the state government able to do to safeguard the interests of the Western Australian racing industry? Mr M. McGOWAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Riverton for the question. As members are aware, our racing industry is doing exceptionally well in Western Australia these days. Stakes, distributions and on-course crowds are going through the roof. However, there are two great threats to that: first, the development of Betfair in Tasmania; and, secondly, corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory who have the potential to make a substantial impact on Western Australia’s racing industry. The government will retain its opposition to both these developments. Our opposition is backed by every major racing body in Australia, every major political party in Australia and every state government bar the Tasmanian government. The only supporters of this development are the Tasmania government, a few individuals in the racing industry and the commonwealth government. We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: I thank the member for Riverton for the question. As members are aware, our racing industry is doing exceptionally well in Western Australia these days. Stakes, distributions and on-course crowds are going through the roof. However, there are two great threats to that: first, the development of Betfair in Tasmania; and, secondly, corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory who have the potential to make a substantial impact on Western Australia’s racing industry. The government will retain its opposition to both these developments. Our opposition is backed by every major racing body in Australia, every major political party in Australia and every state government bar the Tasmanian government. The only supporters of this development are the Tasmania government, a few individuals in the racing industry and the commonwealth government. We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
I thank the member for Riverton for the question. As members are aware, our racing industry is doing exceptionally well in Western Australia these days. Stakes, distributions and on-course crowds are going through the roof. However, there are two great threats to that: first, the development of Betfair in Tasmania; and, secondly, corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory who have the potential to make a substantial impact on Western Australia’s racing industry. The government will retain its opposition to both these developments. Our opposition is backed by every major racing body in Australia, every major political party in Australia and every state government bar the Tasmanian government. The only supporters of this development are the Tasmania government, a few individuals in the racing industry and the commonwealth government. We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: I thank the member for Riverton for the question. As members are aware, our racing industry is doing exceptionally well in Western Australia these days. Stakes, distributions and on-course crowds are going through the roof. However, there are two great threats to that: first, the development of Betfair in Tasmania; and, secondly, corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory who have the potential to make a substantial impact on Western Australia’s racing industry. The government will retain its opposition to both these developments. Our opposition is backed by every major racing body in Australia, every major political party in Australia and every state government bar the Tasmanian government. The only supporters of this development are the Tasmania government, a few individuals in the racing industry and the commonwealth government. We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
I thank the member for Riverton for the question. As members are aware, our racing industry is doing exceptionally well in Western Australia these days. Stakes, distributions and on-course crowds are going through the roof. However, there are two great threats to that: first, the development of Betfair in Tasmania; and, secondly, corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory who have the potential to make a substantial impact on Western Australia’s racing industry. The government will retain its opposition to both these developments. Our opposition is backed by every major racing body in Australia, every major political party in Australia and every state government bar the Tasmanian government. The only supporters of this development are the Tasmania government, a few individuals in the racing industry and the commonwealth government. We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
We base our concerns about Betfair and the corporate bookmakers upon two points. The first is the integrity of the racing industry, which is obviously affected when people are allowed to back a loser in a race. It is far easier for a horse to lose than it is for a horse to win. Anyone who says that people involved in gambling on the horseracing industry can be trusted to do the right thing as a matter of course is perhaps not taking account of the long and varied history of the racing industry in this country and elsewhere. We have concerns about the integrity of the Western Australian industry regarding those matters. The second point is that less money will be returned to the racing industry following these developments. That is the view of every racing body in Australia and every state government bar Tasmania. I am interested to know whether the opposition spokesperson on racing and gaming, the member for South Perth, backs our approach. Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr J.E. McGrath : Yes I do. Don’t you read my press releases? Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr M. McGOWAN : That is good. Unfortunately I have not read the member’s press release but I am glad to hear that he backs our approach. We have contacted the commonwealth, which has the capacity to do something about this under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. I have written to the federal Treasurer and the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has refused to do anything and the federal Treasurer has not responded. I invite the member for South Perth also to write to the federal Treasurer. Will he join the government in writing to the federal Treasurer about this matter? Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr J.E. McGrath : You write to the Tasmanian Premier. Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
Mr M. McGOWAN : They are very aware of our approach. Obviously, the opposition will not join the government in going to the commonwealth. The government will be progressing legislation to limit the access of unauthorised people - that is, Betfair and corporate bookmakers in the Northern Territory - to our race field information. That is the approach that the Victorian and New South Wales governments are taking, and we will be adopting it in relation to this matter.
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