Play halt for online lottery
Newsagents applaud policy shift
THE Tasmanian Government will ban lottery outcome wagering in a move which protects the $30 million in lottery taxes it gets each year and also the incomes of the 92 outlets registered to sell TattsLotto tickets in the state.
Newsagents yesterday applauded the Government’s decision to draw up legislation to ban online synthetic lotteries.
The national body which represents newsagents has called for other states to follow Tasmania’s lead.
But operator Lottoland says the Government should introduce a point of consumption tax on its service rather than rush to ban the business.
“Over the next five years we estimate we will pay taxes in the realm of $50 million across Australia, some of which could flow back to Tasmania,” Lotto- land CEO Luke Brill said.
“Lottoland want to make a long-term contribution to the state and its people and is calling on the Government to introduce a tax framework that makes this possible.”
Lottery outcome betting — also know as synthetic lotteries — is an online gambling model where players bet on the outcome of an official lottery rather than buying tickets in it.
Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business, Trade and Red Tape Reduction, Roger Jaensch, said the system was not welcome in Tasmania.
The Australian Lottery and Newsagent’s Association Tasmanian general manager Ben Kearney said the sector had been concerned about the proliferation of online bookmakers and their push to capture customers of existing registered lotteries.
Tasmania’s 92 outlets auth- orised to provide lottery sales, most of which are newsagencies, had previously raised concerns about the impact on their businesses.
It is understood about 800 Tasmanians are currently active users of synthetic lotteries.
Mr Jaensch said between six and eight companies were operating in the space here.
Latrobe Newsagency manager Michelle Callandar said the sale of registered TattsLotto tickets made up a “huge” proportion of the businesses’ turnover.
“Our customers are talking about online lottery outcome betting and are assuming it is part of TattsLotto which it is not,’ Ms Callandar said.
The ALNA said real lotteries generated $30.6 million in Tasmanian state lottery taxes in 2016-2017, helping to pay for schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure.