Dr LIM - 1999-06-08
About 2 months ago I joined the minister at the launch of a new enterprise in my electorate of Greatorex. Can the minister advise the House of the exciting new Territory export product which in the past 8 weeks has generated in excess of $1.4m in turnover?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, indeed we do have an exciting new export product here in the Northern Territory and it’s exactly what the member for Greatorex has referred to and that is a Casino Internet Gaming Licence with Lasseter’s Casino in Alice Springs. The smallest casino in Australia launched into the global network on 10 April. I had the pleasure, along with the member for Greatorex, to present the licence to the casino and, as the member said, that was some 8 weeks ago. In that time, more than 500 000 hits have been recorded on that site, and in excess of 3000 players have registered. The turnover of bets is, at this point in time, greater than $1.5m as income to the Northern Territory. In real terms, that’s a global export industry that is generated out of the Northern Territory.
World-wide, there are players from 78 countries. I just might provide a couple of examples. Interesting places: Afghanistan - this is not the whole list, but I’ll just pick a few - Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, United States and, interestingly enough, one person from the Vatican City State. I note that that one person has been blessed with a win.
The site is very important in other respects. The site has 6 chat rooms available to people browsing the web, and people playing, and of those 6 chat rooms, 3 highlight Territory attractions, particularly Centralian Territorian attractions. Realistically, one would hope that those people visiting those sites and having a look on what’s to offer from the Northern Territory will actually come and visit those sites one day.
It is interesting to note that the Northern Territory has been very pro-active in this area. We were the first to introduce mainland casinos in Australia. We were the first to revolutionise sports betting here in Australia, along with interactive sports betting, and now we’re the first to launch Australia’s only, and in fact, probably the world’s only, regulated Internet casino site. There are 280-odd sites around the world that offer this product, but we would be, we believe, the only jurisdiction in the world that provides regulation from a government.
The other aspect of these sorts of sites are the employment prospects, and if you include sports betting, which currently has a turnover in excess of $180m, that’s 2 leading licences in the Northern Territory, the employment aspect is upwards of 100 people, if you include the sports betters and the Internet gaming provision by Lasseters. There are over 100 jobs here for the Northern Territory, working 24 hours a day, to provide these services. So, all in all, good news for the Northern Territory. It is an export product, a product that’s providing jobs and a product that’s providing economic growth to the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, indeed we do have an exciting new export product here in the Northern Territory and it’s exactly what the member for Greatorex has referred to and that is a Casino Internet Gaming Licence with Lasseter’s Casino in Alice Springs. The smallest casino in Australia launched into the global network on 10 April. I had the pleasure, along with the member for Greatorex, to present the licence to the casino and, as the member said, that was some 8 weeks ago. In that time, more than 500 000 hits have been recorded on that site, and in excess of 3000 players have registered. The turnover of bets is, at this point in time, greater than $1.5m as income to the Northern Territory. In real terms, that’s a global export industry that is generated out of the Northern Territory.
World-wide, there are players from 78 countries. I just might provide a couple of examples. Interesting places: Afghanistan - this is not the whole list, but I’ll just pick a few - Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, United States and, interestingly enough, one person from the Vatican City State. I note that that one person has been blessed with a win.
The site is very important in other respects. The site has 6 chat rooms available to people browsing the web, and people playing, and of those 6 chat rooms, 3 highlight Territory attractions, particularly Centralian Territorian attractions. Realistically, one would hope that those people visiting those sites and having a look on what’s to offer from the Northern Territory will actually come and visit those sites one day.
It is interesting to note that the Northern Territory has been very pro-active in this area. We were the first to introduce mainland casinos in Australia. We were the first to revolutionise sports betting here in Australia, along with interactive sports betting, and now we’re the first to launch Australia’s only, and in fact, probably the world’s only, regulated Internet casino site. There are 280-odd sites around the world that offer this product, but we would be, we believe, the only jurisdiction in the world that provides regulation from a government.
The other aspect of these sorts of sites are the employment prospects, and if you include sports betting, which currently has a turnover in excess of $180m, that’s 2 leading licences in the Northern Territory, the employment aspect is upwards of 100 people, if you include the sports betters and the Internet gaming provision by Lasseters. There are over 100 jobs here for the Northern Territory, working 24 hours a day, to provide these services. So, all in all, good news for the Northern Territory. It is an export product, a product that’s providing jobs and a product that’s providing economic growth to the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016