HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-04-07 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

AUTHORISED BETTING OPERATIONS (TRADE PRACTICES EXEMPTION) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 25 March 2009. Page 2084.)

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (11:33): I indicate that I am the lead speaker for the opposition on this bill and that we support it. This amendment is a technical amendment to the Authorised Betting Operations Act 2000. The opposition predicted that this might happen when we dealt with the Statutes Amendment (Betting Operations) Bill 2008. We supported that bill last year because it was necessary; bookmakers in the Northern Territory who were placing bets on races in South Australia and other states were taking money away from racing in South Australia.

The original betting operations bill was aimed at getting some money back into racing from interstate betting organisations and bookmakers, and that has worked, but there are still some technical changes that need to be made. The betting operations bill involved actions under the Trade Practices Act and exemptions were required to be put in place at the time. As a result of the universal application to all activities in both trade and commerce, the Trade Practices Act impacts on regulatory activities for racing control authorities and then administration and collection agents, and it creates a possible litigation exposure for them.

The bill will correct this and provide a comprehensive Trade Practices Act exemption to the racing control authorities, which, after all, are just complying with the regulatory requirements imposed on them by this parliament. With that, we support the bill.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:35): I wish to make only a brief contribution. Given that I attended the backbench portfolio meeting yesterday and asked some questions, I thought I might take the opportunity to put those comments on the record. I am not a gambling person, but I certainly appreciate the opportunity to attend the races. I acknowledge that it is a great opportunity for people to get out, and all who attend really do enjoy it. The Balaklava Racing Club is in my electorate and it is a wonderful place for anyone who has the chance to visit, especially the cup later this year.

Will the minister comment on the cash effect upon South Australia as a result of this legislation? Other states, in particular the eastern seaboard states, have larger populations and seemingly have a larger number of people wishing to partake of betting opportunities. My understanding is that, by putting these arrangements in place, it creates a situation whereby, when we bet on interstate races, a portion of that fund will go to that state, but, because a larger amount of transactions are wagered on races that occur in this state, the financial return to South Australia will be somewhat larger than our outlay to other states. On the basis that this bill supports cash positive opportunities for the state, I am very happy to support it.

It is commendable that, in its original consideration of the previous bill, the opposition noted that there would be a need for this. It does show that, quite often, we work above politics, recognise where some adjustments will be necessary and then try to forewarn the government that, when considering such legislation, it needs to look at certain aspects. Good debate in both chambers of parliament should be focused on what the industry's needs are. In this case, we are amending legislation to support the industry. From the information provided to me by the member for Morphett, I think racing supports some 9,000 people—

Dr McFetridge: Three thousand full-time jobs.

Mr GRIFFITHS: Certainly it is an economic driver in this state and it is an important one, so any legislation that we can support in the parliament to ensure the future of that industry is good.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (11:37): I support what the member for Goyder has just said. We are happy at any time to look at existing legislation and finetune it, as has been done in this case. I think that, if we took a lot of the heat out of the way we carry on in this place and we did more of this—and some of this work could be done by a joint committee before legislation comes into this house—we would get on much better and we would probably be much quicker in putting legislation through—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

Mr VENNING: Yes, I think it is probably to do with the new minister. He has made a big impact since he has been minister. He has been on the radio in the north of our state and certainly he comes over pretty well. He is honest and diligent in what he is trying to do and not too political—not yet, anyway. Let us see whether he can keep that record up. It is a very important industry to the state.

Over the years, we have been associated with the industry. I am not a great punter. I have been a few times. I used to follow certain jockeys in my younger days, but I have not of late. In the very early days, we used to supply fodder to the industry. You could say that there are many horses out there that eat a lot of chaff and, particularly today, they eat premium grade fodder. They do not eat ordinary, trashy old pasture hay: they eat premium grade hay—good enough that we could almost eat it ourselves.

We used to supply all the chaff to Port Pirie in the old days. It was a very good money spinner, particularly through difficult times during and after the Depression. It is probably one of the single biggest reasons that the family re-established itself; that is, by supporting the racing industry. I can recall as a young lad going to Port Pirie with my father in an old 1927 Chev truck, with a full load of chaff on the back—of course, chaff is not very heavy, so it was a big high load all tied on—and delivering to all the trotters and the racehorses. Incidentally, some of the same names are still operating in Pirie.

It is a very positive industry; and, as was previously mentioned, more than 3,000 people are employed either directly or indirectly in this industry. Some of us are not great gamblers and the social aspect of going to the track is not our thing, but we must all understand how important this is to South Australia; and, with the current upset that is going on with the SAJC, it is a concern. We just hope that can be resolved quickly without any undue personal harm to people, but due processes must be followed. As I said, this is all about fine tuning existing legislation, and I am happy to support this together with my colleagues and, certainly, support the industry.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Gambling, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (11:40): I thank the opposition for its support, and the shadow spokesperson is right: the opposition did foresee this legislation coming to the parliament. The Hon. Terry Stephens in another place mentioned that in his remarks, and I want to thank him for his support of this measure. The answer to the question asked by the member for Goyder is that I am advised that Racing New South Wales has already sent an account to SATAB for $123,000 based on Thoroughbred Racing SA's 2007 turnover in future estimates, but I will double check on that. We estimate that, if all other jurisdictions in the funding model start paying in, the figure is expected to exceed $9 million. We will not know for sure until this measure passes, but we will make those figures available.

I want to make a few other closing remarks about this bill. Amendments late last year to authorise the Betting Operations Act addressing the issues arising from the Betfair High Court decision created the concepts of integrity and contribution agreements. The efficient administration of these agreements between the South Australian racing industry and waging operators requires coordination. This function has been taken on by Racing SA on behalf of the racing controlling authorities. The bill replaces the trade practices exemption included in the amendments late last year with one that is more complete, and fully accounts for the arrangements that had been put in place. This change, albeit technical in nature, is an important step in reducing litigation risk to the South Australian racing industry, which is the most important aspect of this bill.

I thank members for their willingness to progress this bill as a priority, and I commend the bill to the house.

Bill read a second time and taken through its remaining stages.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT