Page 1907 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 14 June 1994
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The ACT racing industry supports the introduction of these legislative amendments, which are necessary to ensure that the ACT punters are provided with services available in other States and that bookmakers are able to compete against casinos and the initiatives of the licensed club industry. The legislation is expected to provide a boost to ACT bookmakers by providing access to punters who cannot attend the racecourse. It will allow ACT bookmakers to compete more effectively for the leisure dollar. Introduction of this legislation must coincide with similar legislation being introduced in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, as the industry is firmly of the view that any custom lost to interstate bookmakers with the telephone betting service would be difficult to recover. The legislation also allows for bookmakers to advertise their services in respect of telephone betting.
At the Racing Ministers meeting in February it was agreed that bets being made using telephone betting services would be restricted to a minimal level, chiefly to protect TAB turnover. The Bills provide that bookmakers shall not be able to accept a telephone bet unless it is equal to or greater than a prescribed amount, or the bookmaker risk is equal to or greater than a prescribed amount. I understand that the regulations will set the prescribed amounts, which will be a minimum bet of $250 or a minimum risk of $2,000 by the bookmaker. The minimum bet restrictions will ensure that the social ACTTAB patron is not drawn away from the TAB network and that ACTTAB turnover is not adversely affected by this measure. In addition, the minimum bet will also ensure that government and racing industry revenues are protected, while still ensuring that punters are provided with the range of betting services available in other States.
On-course telephone betting will be conducted in accordance with prescribed procedures, utilising the prescribed equipment. The equipment will provide for the voice recording of betting transactions, and the recorded tapes will be monitored by persons authorised for that purpose. The ACT Executive will be able to make regulations prescribing minimum bets, approved equipment and authorised officers. A consultative group comprising representatives from the ACT Bookmakers Association, the three ACT racing clubs, the South East Racing Association, ACTTAB and other related bodies, including ACT Treasury, has considered and endorsed the procedures to be covered in the regulations. Madam Speaker, the passage of these Bills in the ACT will ensure that local punters are provided with the most up-to-date betting services and will enable local bookmakers to effectively compete in national wagering environments.
Mr De Domenico raised a number of matters and I will take this opportunity to respond. First of all, in relation to the minimum bet of $250, that amount was agreed at the Racing Ministers meeting in February, with the exception of Tasmania, where a minimum bet of $200 was agreed to. It was a nationally agreed position that legislation, when first introduced, would prescribe these minimum bets. I understand that as things become more competitive there may be a need to review that. That, essentially, is an undertaking which I have given to the racing industry in the ACT - that we will review that amount to ensure that we remain in a competitive position with standards that apply in other States.
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