Page 3657 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
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made with those credits while also returning the original credits, the original value of the bonus bet, back to the betting operator. So the punter never actually gets the original bonus bet before those funds are able to be withdrawn by a user.
This means that by taxing the credits provided to the user the government is in reality double taxing the betting operator, as they will be liable to pay the tax on the original credit and then the following wager the user is required to make before being eligible to withdraw funds. It strikes me as being somewhat unfair.
I have spoken about the fact that the government is seeking to replicate what goes on in other jurisdictions with the introduction of this bill. But it is with the pure introduction of the tax that the similarity with other states ends. In other states, governments have used a portion of the revenue generated from the point of consumption tax to feed back into the industry which generated it.
In both New South Wales and Victoria the government is committed to providing around 20 per cent of the revenue generated back to the racing industry. This makes so much sense in that the original racing code funding models were built around turnover from the state owned and operated TABs. Those models came under enormous pressure because of the emergence of these out-of-jurisdiction online betting operations.
The other states have made the call to foster their racing industries and to rightfully return a portion of the turnover from the POC betting tax revenue to the racing codes. The government are one by one shutting down and banning the racing codes, so it is no surprise this bill makes no mention whatsoever of returning any of the funding back to the racing codes, or at least the codes they have not banned at this stage.
By committing to allocate some of the revenue generated from this new tax to the racing codes, the racing codes would be able to reinvest in animal welfare, the sustainability of the future of ACT racing, and infrastructure and innovation, as is the case in New South Wales and Victoria.
With the New South Wales government working with the industry to provide a commitment to allocate 20 per cent of the tax revenue to the racing industry, this places the ACT industry at a distinct disadvantage. We have already seen examples of the Canberra racing community being excluded from the highway handicaps and others. Common sense eventually prevailed there. But with further investment in New South Wales, the racing community needs all the help it can get from the government to remain viable and sustainable in Canberra.
I remind members that the Canberra racing clubs provide a significant economic benefit to Canberra. We are talking about a very large employment base and a great tourist attraction. For those that have ever attended the Canberra Racing Club’s feature race days, such as Black Opal Stakes day, Melbourne Cup race day or Tony Campbell race day, you would know the substantial cultural significance of the racing industry in the ACT.
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