Two senators, who are members of minor Australian political parties, have called the federal government to make online poker legal in the country.
New South Wales (NSW) Senator David Leyonhjelm, representing the Liberal Democratic Party, and South Australia Senator Cory Bernardi, who is a representative of the Australian Conservatives, supported the idea of legalising online poker in the country. The two of them, both of whom are involved in the inquiry of the local Environment and Communications References Committee, said there is no direct connection between online poker and problem gambling, and that any link between them were accidental.
Online Gambling in Australia
Currently, online poker is not legal on the territory of Australia. The country first put its online gambling legislation into action in 2001, but the thing is that online gambling was far from popular at the time. The unclear and outdated regulation was one of the main reasons why many online poker operators have been literally operating in a “grey area”.
This was possible until earlier in 2017, as in August, the federal government of Australia officially gave the green light to the so-called Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016. Under the new piece of legislation, all forms of online gambling, except for sports betting, were suspended in the country.
The implementation of the new bill came as a shock to the operators that have been running their services in Australia for some time. After the Government gave the nod to the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, the local gambling market has been blamed for being hostile to a large number of offshore online gambling operators. As a result, some of the largest and most reputable international iGaming brands, such as Vera&John, 32Red, 888poker, PokerStars, partypoker, Genesis Global Limited and Mansion Group, have decided to leave Australia.
Senators’ Efforts Could Lead to Online Poker Ban Lift
According to both Senator Leyonhjelm and Senator Bernardi, online poker is a low-risk activity. As revealed by The Australian Financial Review, Senator Leyonhjelm commented that local players deserve to be provided with a safe and regulated environment that would allow them to enjoy their favourite pastime without being forced to use foreign online poker websites to do that. According to him, the country’s federal government needs to consider to establish a new federal body in order to regulate the online gambling market of Australia.
As Casino Guardian reported in September, Senator Leyonhjelm has been making efforts to back online poker legalisation in the country for some time now. At the time, he shared that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) may not be the most appropriate regulatory body to control online gambling, so it would probably be a better idea for the Australian Government to consider creating an authority such as the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The Head of the Environment and Communications References Committee – Greens Senator Janet Rice – has made a recommendation that if any amendments are brought to the current online poker legislation, this should better be done after the National Consumer Protection Framework is officially taken in later in 2017.
- Author
Daniel Williams
