While South Australia has circulated a draft bill to prohibit betting exchanges in the state, seven chairmen of stewards from around Australia have urged the Tasmanian Government to defer the betting exchange legislation.
South Australia Racing Minister, Michael Wright, has circulated a copy of a draft legislative amendments, aimed at blocking Betfair from taking bets from SA punters, to the Australian Racing Board and other major industry stakeholders.
Racing Victoria Chief Steward Des Gleeson was joined by other chairmen of stewards from around Australia in asking Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon to seek advice from racing\’s professional regulators.
In a joint statement, the stewards claimed the proposed legislation does not take probity arrangement on racing to new levels as Lennon claims.
“Betting exchanges, by their very nature, create a fundamental challenge to the integrity of racing,” the stewards said in their statement.
“The contents of the bill that is currently being considered by the Tasmanian Parliament fail to satisfy us that they are capable of meeting this challenge.”
“They cause us to question whether the drafters of the legislation have adequately understood the regulatory scheme that underpins racing\’s integrity in this country, which is of grave concern.”
Racing Victoria Chief Executive Robert Nason and Australian Racing Board Chief Andrew Harding will today address the Tasmanian Upper House, while the Tasmanian opposition is maintaining calls for a joint select committee of Parliament to examine the details of the Betfair\’s deal.
On the good side of the news, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission indicated that it will not allow Tasmania to be unfairly sanctioned by opponents of Betfair.
In further developments, the Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon received correspondence from the Tasmanian Racing Club confirming it now supports the Betfair\’s deal.
Calculators
