The bill that would allow Betfair to be licensed in Tasmania was introduced this week and passed in the Lower House of Parliament today, but not without protest.
The highly anticipated Gaming Control Amendment (Betting Exchange) Bill 2005 was introduced Tuesday and then tabled after the Opposition's claim that Premier Lennon displayed questionable behavior by accepting an invitation to be a guest at the Crown Casino Hotel during the Melbourne Cup. (The hotel is owned by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, Betfair's partner in the bid for licensure.)
Mark Davies, director of communications for Betfair, said the accusation was ridiculous because the Crown Casino is the biggest hotel in Melbourne.
"The guy goes away on business," Davies said. "What do expect him to do, pay out of his own pocket?"
Betfair has also been accused of trying to buy the three independent votes needed to pass the bill. Reports earlier this week indicated that Betfair invited three members of Parliament to enjoy their hospitality at the Melbourne Cup. Davies claims that is an inaccurate portrayal of the situation.
"There's been great talk that we invited only three of them," Davies said. "In fact, we called them all. We called each of their offices and said, 'Would they be available in the event that we invited them?' . . . Only three of them said they would be available, and we subsequently sent three invitations."
The three ministers, Greg Hall, Jim Wilkinson and Paul Harriss, declined the invitations, and the other seven deny ever being contacted. Davies speculates that it was a misunderstanding, pointing out that it Australian Racing rather than Betfair that inquired about their availability.
"We certainly did establish what the availability was and we sent the invitations," Davies explained. "And they declined the invitation. We sent invitations out to lots of people and some accept and some don't."
The bill will next go to the Upper House, where it will be addressed no earlier than Nov. 23.
In light of continued mounting controversy, however, the Upper House could prove to be a larger hurdle. Most recently, state government Racing Minister Jim Cox has come under the Green Party's microscope for reportedly asking members of the Tasmanian Jockeys Association (TJA) during a meeting in June whether they would "roll over for Betfair for $1 million." It has been suggested that the question was a bribe in exchange for support of the bill, but the person who reported the allegation, TJA Secretary Kevin Ring, denies that he interpreted it as a bribe.
Davies said Betfair was not part of that meeting and that the comment was taken out of context.
He also said that Betfair has been confident throughout the entire process that the legislation will go gain final approval.
"We have always held the view that independent observers of our fight can see logic past the rhetoric," he said. "And the logic is that our product is a win-win. It's a win for consumers. It's a win for regulators. It's a win for government. And we have yet to find an independent analyst of our product that doesn't agree with us."