Lottoland Could Face NSW Government Ban

It came to Casino Guardian’s knowledge that Gibraltar-based betting operator Lottoland is to be suspended by the New South Wales Government under a crackdown. As reported by The Daily Telegraph, the local Government has been planning to take some steps and ban synthetic lotteries from running.

The betting operator has recently been blamed for a major decline in tax revenue from local lotteries. Currently, Lottoland has been facing a massive nationwide campaign, as it has been seen as a threat to the performance of local agencies, causing them serious financial losses.

Lottoland Faces Massive Nationwide Campaign in Australia

The company has already been suspended from operation on the territory of South Australia, while the state of Victoria has been planning to introduce a piece of legislation that would ban Lottoland from offering its services there. Local media have reported this could happen by the end of October. For the time being, the company does not operate on the territory of South Australia.

The Government of Western Australia has been considering to impose a ban on the operator’s services. A possible ban raised some questions about the future of the commercial partnership agreed between the betting company and the NRL’s Manly Sea Eagles.

Lottoland holds an operating license in the Northern Territory, for which it pays tax to the Government of that territory only. Previously, the operator has revealed that it was ready to pay a point of consumption tax. If that happens, Lottoland would probably pay approximately $50 million in a five-year period. The spokesman of the operator explained that Lottoland backed the introduction of a national point of consumption tax and confirmed that the Gibraltar-based agency has been paying GST and corporate tax as of July 2017.

According to the Deputy Premier John Barilaro, the Government was aimed at supporting both local operators and customers, and shared that according to the authorities, synthetic lotteries do not feature the same level of customer protection as the local lotteries. In addition, Mr. Barilaro explained the Government’s concern that a large number of consumers were not aware of the fact that by buying tickets in a synthetic lottery they are in fact betting on the outcome of the lottery. He further said that guaranteed prize pools and stricter terms and conditions are featured by domestic lotteries, which unfortunately, have been hurt by Lottoland and similar foreign operators.

One Nation’s Opposition to Lottoland

Lottoland has already faced the strong opposition of the One Nation Party, which leader Pauline Hanson has already called the Australian Parliament to ban online betting on lottery draws.

As previously reported by Casino Guardian in September, Ms. Hanson shared such a step is necessary in case that the authorities wanted to protect Australian jobs and minimise the negative consequences to domestic operators.

At that time, Senator Hanson cited some data according to which there were more than 20,000 people employed in local companies, while there were only eight individuals employed by Lottoland, which in her opinion came to prove the fact that foreign operators hurt Australian newsagents’ performance.

  • Author

Olivia Cole

Olivia Cole has worked as a journalist for several years now. Over the last couple of years she has been engaged in writing about a number of industries and has developed an interest for the gambling market in the UK.
Daniel Williams
Casino Guardian covers the latest news and events in the casino industry. Here you can also find extensive guides for roulette, slots, blackjack, video poker, and all live casino games as well as reviews of the most trusted UK online casinos and their mobile casino apps.

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