Western Australian government to ban secondary lotteries?

Synthetic lottery provider Lottoland, already besieged in Australia by political and established lottery brands, faces more difficulties this week following a statement from the Western Australian provincial government that it is about to introduce legislation banning secondary lotteries such as Lottoland.

The move is expected this week, when legislation is introduced into the provincial parliament as politicians commit to protecting the local Lotterywest offering and try to minimise harm to potential problem gamblers.

Provincial premier Mark McGowan said this week that secondary lotteries are eroding the customer base of Lotterywest, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to worthy organisations each year.

Organisations like Lottoland, however, take from the community but don’t give anything back, McGowan claimed.

“Lotterywest needs to remain strong because it provides those community grants and support,” he told reporters.

“That’s why we have to bring in this legislation, to protect Lotterywest and make sure those organisations like Lottoland don’t get a foothold here.”

WA Racing and Gaming Minister Paul Papalia said determined punters would still be able to use synthetic lotteries but he expected those organisations’ market share would fall dramatically.

He said the state government also planned to stop live odds advertising at sporting events such as AFL matches at Optus Stadium, but the ban wouldn’t apply to race tracks.

Laws banning synthetic lotteries cleared the Australian federal parliament earlier this year (see previous reports).