Online Gambling at a Crossroads in Australia

Australia's wagering industry is at the crossroads, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Victorian wagering licence is up for tender and British-based Ladbrokes and the Hong Kong Jockey Club are circling, and that's going to open the doors for plenty of online gambling business.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Tote Tasmania, boasting a zero tax regime and a 50-year licence, is dressing itself up for sale, with Betfair, the betting exchange half-owned by James Packer, ominously quiet.

The Irish-based Paddy Power, a big player in Britain, has its eye on the corporate bookmaker Sportingbet. Or is it the rival Sportsbet, meaning that if it seized the latter, it would take IASBet with it?

Paddy Power needs to expand into the Asia-Pacific region and acquire a new market to boast to the London Stock Exchange.

Centrebet, the online operator listed on the Australian stock exchange, was the first corporate bookmaker to exploit the removal of interstate barriers on advertising, sponsoring NRL, AFL and Sydney and Melbourne racing clubs.

Australia is not without its diversions however. Stephen Conroy is an Australian politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Rudd Labor Government who is heading up efforts to block citizens from accessing certain websites, many of which involve pornography and online gambling.

While initially promoted as a way to protect children from child pornography, the censorship policy has been extended to include a much broader range of material, including sites depicting drug use, crime, sex, cruelty, violence or "revolting and abhorrent phenomena" that "offend against the standards of morality".  In addition, surveys have revealed strong public opposition to the policy. A survey conducted by Netspace showed only 13.6 percent agreed that the government should make filtering mandatory, and 78.9 percent disagreed.

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Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com