Mr BALDWIN - 1996-11-28
Were there any favourable outcomes from the racing ministers conference?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, in its various forms, racing and gaming is of great importance to Territorians, not only because many of them enjoy such ...
Mr Stirling: A pity you did not give them new stables.
Mr Stone: Oh, Syd! You're back.
Mr Stirling: They can't even stable their horses.
Mr Stone: Two times.
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Mr FINCH: I know the member for Nhulunbuy shares an interest in that area. One of the other areas that is important is the revenue that it brings to the Treasury and, of course, to many clubs, committees and organisations.
Turning to some of the items addressed at the racing ministers conference, there is the matter of sports betting. There were moves afoot to attempt to cramp the Northern Territory in terms of our taxation regime that is seen to be far more attractive to the punter than that which exists elsewhere, with the exception of one state. What other states fail to recognise is that the reason we have more than a 70% share of the nation's sports betting turnover is that we were the first out of the blocks. We were out there ...
Mr Coulter: We had 100%.
Mr FINCH: We had 100% for quite some time. That was of interest. In the end, I think the states were convinced that the Territory is innovative and progressive and that we should be allowed to compete in the open marketplace, as is only reasonable.
One of the other areas of interest to some punters is the telephone betting limits. While they were not reduced enormously, by way of a reasonable compromise, they have now been set at $200 for metropolitan gallops and $100 for all other metropolitan races and all provincial races, including gallops. That has been done so that states can monitor, through their TAB systems, what the impact may be from such a reduction in telephone betting. The issue will be readdressed next year at a subsequent ministerial council meeting.
The only other area I will mention, and it is of some relevance to Territory punters, is the deregulation of tipping services. The agenda item started out as `regulation of tipping services'. However, after constructive debate, there is now to be a deregulation. Notwithstanding that, there will be a need to monitor the scallywags if there are any. We are not aware of any SP bookmaking in the Territory, but it exists in some of the states. Those people who try to come in under the guise of tipping services will be handled through state consumer affairs legislation and other policing arrangements. All in all, it was a very good outcome for the Territory punter and, I believe, in the long run for the Territory taxpayer.
Page 1860
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, in its various forms, racing and gaming is of great importance to Territorians, not only because many of them enjoy such ...
Mr Stirling: A pity you did not give them new stables.
Mr Stone: Oh, Syd! You're back.
Mr Stirling: They can't even stable their horses.
Mr Stone: Two times.
Page 1859
Mr FINCH: I know the member for Nhulunbuy shares an interest in that area. One of the other areas that is important is the revenue that it brings to the Treasury and, of course, to many clubs, committees and organisations.
Turning to some of the items addressed at the racing ministers conference, there is the matter of sports betting. There were moves afoot to attempt to cramp the Northern Territory in terms of our taxation regime that is seen to be far more attractive to the punter than that which exists elsewhere, with the exception of one state. What other states fail to recognise is that the reason we have more than a 70% share of the nation's sports betting turnover is that we were the first out of the blocks. We were out there ...
Mr Coulter: We had 100%.
Mr FINCH: We had 100% for quite some time. That was of interest. In the end, I think the states were convinced that the Territory is innovative and progressive and that we should be allowed to compete in the open marketplace, as is only reasonable.
One of the other areas of interest to some punters is the telephone betting limits. While they were not reduced enormously, by way of a reasonable compromise, they have now been set at $200 for metropolitan gallops and $100 for all other metropolitan races and all provincial races, including gallops. That has been done so that states can monitor, through their TAB systems, what the impact may be from such a reduction in telephone betting. The issue will be readdressed next year at a subsequent ministerial council meeting.
The only other area I will mention, and it is of some relevance to Territory punters, is the deregulation of tipping services. The agenda item started out as `regulation of tipping services'. However, after constructive debate, there is now to be a deregulation. Notwithstanding that, there will be a need to monitor the scallywags if there are any. We are not aware of any SP bookmaking in the Territory, but it exists in some of the states. Those people who try to come in under the guise of tipping services will be handled through state consumer affairs legislation and other policing arrangements. All in all, it was a very good outcome for the Territory punter and, I believe, in the long run for the Territory taxpayer.
Page 1860
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016