While no civil war has been declared in Australia... yet... the federal government has received defiant responses from most of the state and territorial governments regarding the proposed move to ban Internet gambling licenses from being issued.
"We assert our right under the Constitution to run our affairs and we require the Commonwealth to recognise what they already know, and that is that is a matter for the States," Paul Lennon, Tasmania's Gaming Minister, expostulated during a radio interview today.
Last week, Northern Territory officials vowed to fight the moratorium all the way to the High Court if necessary.
Some federal authorities have poured gasoline on the fire, Jocelyn Newman, the Family and Community Services Minister, said in a radio interview, "What we're seeing here is just disgusting opportunism. These states have already got severe problems which they, in their more sane
moments, will acknowledge."
Pokie-ridden New South Wales, along with Western Australia, approved the national government's move. "I support the Federal Government's freeze, that was the New South Wales Government's position," NSW Premier Bob Carr said in a radio interview. "I'd urge my own party at the national level to commit itself to seeing that the Federal Government has the power, comprehensive power, reinforced if necessary to ban internet gambling."
The federal government has based its position, in large part, on a report by the Productivity Commission, which found that more than 200,000 problem gamblers call Australia home. Mark Bishop, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Communications Minster, acknowledged that there are problem
gamblers in Australia, but not necessarily due to Internet gambling. "To try and suggest there are major problems in online gambling is simply incorrect," Bishop said. "Most of the online gambling, in fact over 90 percent of it, is directed to and receives custom from countries outside of Australia."
Tony McAuslan, CEO of game design company Next Generation Gaming Pty. Ltd., lamented his government's stance, saying, "The current global view is that Australia is leading the world both in its approach to tight regulation and its dominance of technology and game design skills. ... However, if the federal government gets its way, we will be forced to concede our dominance to the Americans, who despite the current Kyl bill legislation, are close to moving towards a regulated interactive gaming
market."
Many in Australia suggest that banning Internet gaming licenses isn't the right way to deal with problem gambling. "If the federal government was serious about 'calling a time out on online gaming," McAuslan added, "then it should consider banning Australians from wagering on interactive sites for
the next twelve months, rather than imposing a ban on the licenses themselves."
McAuslan instead believes that Australia has benefited by being a world leader in licensing interactive gaming sites, and that the moratorium "was the surest way to kill off investment and drive developers offshore or back to the U.S."
The best way to curb problem gambling, he concluded, is to curb slot machines and "move all gambling into an interactive environment where it can be monitored properly."