Court clamp on woman’s raffle draw
A QUEENSLAND mum who is raffling her house, land, cash and pet resort business has stopped taking entries from the state’s residents as authorities seek an urgent injunction.
Natalie Giumelli, 31, from Woodstock, south of Townsville, was selling tickets for the prize, purportedly worth a combined $1.5 million.
But authorities will take her to court today to seek an injunction.
She posted on her Yapper Valley Pet Resort Facebook page on August 19 that she has been “advised by regulatory authorities in Queensland to cease this promotion in Queensland” from August 20.
The post came during an investigation by the state’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR), which enforces the Charitable and Non-profit Gaming Act, into the lottery, according to a statement from the OLGR.
Following the probe, on September 4, the chief executive of the Department of Attorney-general rushed to court to ask for an urgent injunction to halt competition in Queensland before the draw, set for September 24.
The draw, known officially as a trade promotion lottery, had originally been set for June 21 and is open to Australian residents excluding South Australians and, now, Queenslanders.
The draw has permits to sell to NSW and ACT residents.
The raffle is the first of its kind in Queensland, Ms Giumelli told media.
The case is set for hearing in the Supreme Court today and so far Ms Giumelli has not filed paperwork for an appearance. The injunction application also names Ms Giumelli’s company Templeton Two Enterprise Pty Ltd (trading as Yapper Valley Pet Resort) and The Trustee For The Secos Family Trust as respondents.
Ms Giumelli told visitors to her website that all Queenslanders who bought $55 tickets to win the 110-acre (45ha) property before the August 20 ban “will remain eligible for the draw”.
She posted on Facebook last month that “The Queensland governing bodies see it one way and we see it another. … we don’t want to fight them in court.”
Ms Giumelli and her media representative did not respond to email and telephone requests for comment yesterday. However, her husband Brock said “this is a matter for the courts”.