The fight over Australia’s online gambling regulatory review has escalated quickly after the pubs and clubs lobby asked the government to impose a point of consumption tax (POCT) on online operators.
So far, stakeholder submissions to the government’s review of the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act have focused on (a) how to deal with international sites not holding Australian licenses, and (b) whether or not to allow Australian online operators to offer in-play sports wagers.
But a submission to the government by Clubs Australia, the group representing the nation’s 6,500 licensed clubs, says talk of international competition is a “pretense” intended to “extract a range of regulatory concessions from government with respect to taxation and harm minimization.” Thus, any and all suggestions of authorizing legal online in-play wagers “should be dismissed.”
Frankly, Clubs Australia, whose members operate the country’s most addictive form of gambling, has a lot of cheek to talk about online operators dodging harm minimization responsibilities, but they were just getting started.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the submission goes on to argue that online operators should be subject to a POCT similar to the one recently imposed in the UK, which has prompted some other jurisdictions to consider following suit.
The submission notes that most of Australia’s online operators hold licenses issued by the Northern Territory while the majority of these sites’ customers are located in other states. One of these states, South Australia, has already announced plans to impose its own POCT on operators’ dealings with South Australian punters.
The Northern Territory demands a very modest tax in exchange for its online licenses, which Clubs Australia says amounted to a total levy of $7m in 2014-15 on total wagering turnover of $9.7b. Clubs Australia argued that its members would pay over $200m in tax on a similar volume of turnover at their video poker (pokies) machines.
The government panel led by former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell is expected to deliver the first draft of its online review sometime this month. In the meantime, we’re likely to see more floats join this parade of shameless self-interest and attempts to hobble rivals.
