Gibraltar: Liquor & Gaming NSW eyes Lottoland's 'last-ditch' newspaper offer

The Gibraltar-based Lottoland's operations in Australia are under threat after the Turnbull government unveiled new laws banishing so-called "synthetic lottery" services, including Lottoland's, which let punters bet on lottery outcomes without having a ticket in the draw.

The legislation followed intensive campaigning by lotteries operator Tatts Group and newsagency industry group, the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA). The organisations have been accusing the "fake lottery" service of cutting into small business owners' livelihoods and eroding tens of millions of dollars in vital tax revenue.

In a series of full-page newspaper advertisements, Lottoland has sought to appease the newsagencies, proposing a deal under which 4000 news and lottery agents would receive a 20 per cent cut of the profits from every bet on an overseas lottery that they referred to Lottoland. The agents, in return, would be asked to promote Lottoland's products in their stores.

ALNA attacked the offer as a desperate "PR manouevre" and a "last-ditch" attempt at survival, but another newsagents' group, the Newsagents Association of NSW and ACT, has told its members it is considering the offer, noting it was "substantially higher than previous offers".

In a potential obstacle to Lottoland's proposal, the state regulator Liquor & Gaming NSW has begun investigating the advertised details of the offer to determine whether it would violate state gambling laws.

Lottoland confirmed that the regulator was "seeking information in relation to recent advertisements placed by the company in metropolitan and regional newspapers".
"Lottoland is confident that the newspaper advertisements do not contravene the relevant NSW legislation," a company spokesman said. "Naturally, we will continue to co-operate." The regulator's inquiries were prompted by ALNA, which said it had been "seeking clarification" from state authorities about the legality of Lottoland's offer.

"In particular, we want to understand whether Lottoland has the necessary regulatory approvals or licences to provide betting services through retail venues for the proposal," ALNA said in a memo. "We are concerned that our members, and individual newsagencies across Australia, may accidentally be breaking the law if they were to agree to this."

Lottoland said it wanted to partner with newsagents to "provide our 650,000-plus customers with greater choice in a way that will be fair and profitable for news and lottery agents".
The federal legislation to ban lottery betting, if it succeeds, would take effect six months after it passes parliament. Ian Booth, of the Newsagents Association of NSW and ACT, said the Turnbull government's bill would have the unintended consequence of cementing Tabcorp's Tatts Group as a monopoly and argued should be delayed until the "consequences of creating a lotteries monopoly are resolved".