Debate is continuing to rage on in most parts of the gambling industry down under into what would be the most successful way to solve the country’s gambling problems. Not that they’re any worse than other countries in the world, it’s just the Aussie administration feel like shouting the message down their didgeridoo many times each day.
Ever since the government decided that pre-commitment technology was the best way to combat gambling addiction, mainly in relation to pokies, the writing has been on the way as far as gambling groups are concerned. We’ve already seen the anger that the club owners have brought to the table and now an esteemed gaming industry director is getting in on the act.
The Australian reports that Global Gaming Industries managing director, Scott MacDougall, told a joint committee that: “If they chose to implement that system it would be a transition period over a period of time.
“It would be quite an expensive situation, you’d have to deal with the smaller venues that can’t afford to implement those sort of things.”
Mandatory pre-commitment is the sticking point that most groups, except the government, are railing against and we can already add Betfair to the list. Last week chief executive Andrew Twaits told of their support for voluntary pre-commitment, which is where the player sets limits if they want to.
To be brutally honest, the government is unlikely to change their mind anytime soon and the land-based pokies industry could be looking at some loss if this goes ahead.
