Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

INTERACTIVE GAMBLING AMENDMENT (LOTTERY BETTING) BILL 2018

SECOND READING SPEECH

Traditional lotteries and keno games are popular and long-standing recreational gambling products that form an important income stream for thousands of small businesses across Australia, including newsagents, pharmacies, pubs, RSLs and community clubs. They provide millions of dollars in tax revenue to every state and territory in Australia and help fund important services and infrastructure for the community such as hospitals, schools, public transport and roads.

Every time a customer buys a ticket in an official lottery draw, a percentage of the ticket price goes toward supporting community services and small business owners. Official lotteries have keno games have been a feature of the Australian gambling product landscape for a long time, and are well understood and accepted by consumers.

In contrast, lottery and keno betting services are relatively new. They provide little taxation revenue and absolutely no benefits to the thousands of small business owners across Australia. Furthermore, with the light regulation imposed on these services, they can entice customers away from traditional lotteries and keno games which further impacts the benefits to the community and small business.

Many Australians have voiced their concerns about the emergence of lottery and keno betting services. The Government has carefully considered these concerns.

Last year, the Minister for Communications raised these concerns with the responsible Minister in the Northern Territory, which so far is the only jurisdiction to licence lottery betting. The Northern Territory Government responded by introducing a partial prohibition on lottery betting, such that betting could not be offered on Australian lotteries. Whilst this was a positive step, the Australian Government believes stronger and more comprehensive action is required.

The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2018 will amend the InteractiveGambling Act 2001 to prohibit the provision of lottery and keno betting services to Australians.

State tax and small business revenue

Traditional lotteries are heavily regulated and pay a considerable amount of tax to all states and territories. For every lottery ticket sold, up to 28 per cent is allocated to state and territory taxes to support regulatory oversight and government services, whilst up to 9 per cent is paid to agents for relevant sales costs and income requirements.

In 2016-17, it was estimated that official lotteries paid $1.1 billion in state and territory taxes.

Over $350 million is earnt by some 4,000 newsagencies and official lottery agents across Australia from sales of official lottery products. Newsagents rely on this money to run their businesses. Traditional keno services conducted in clubs and hotels across Australia help support community services and sporting initiatives.

In comparison, lottery and keno betting services contribute significantly less tax and only to one jurisdiction in Australia. They do not pay any commissions to small businesses. It is clear that a shift away from official lotteries will have a negative impact on state taxation revenue and small business.

Traditional lotteries are built on guaranteed prize pools from ticket sales and are required to comply with strict audit and consumer protection measures. Unlike official lotteries, lottery betting services are not required to comply with the guaranteed prize pool model – instead, their major prizes are covered by insurance policies. This allows lottery betting service providers to offer bigger prizes more frequently which further impacts on the financial benefits of traditional lotteries.

IGA amendments

The intent of the Interactive Gambling Act is to minimise the scope of problem gambling in Australia by limiting the types of interactive gambling services to Australians. Lottery betting services allow consumers to bet on the outcome of up to 25 lottery draws being conducted around the world each week, with the promise of massive jackpots ranging in the hundreds of millions, which could lead to problem and at-risk gambling.

This Bill will prohibit the provision of lottery and keno betting services to customers physically present in Australia. It will also prohibit the betting on a 'contingency that may or may not happen in the course of the conduct of a lottery' to ensure that bets cannot be accepted on the outcome, or any aspect, of a lottery or keno draw.

Nationally consistent regulation

The Commonwealth is responsible for online gambling matters and is best placed to implement a national position in relation to lottery betting services in Australia. This is consistent with the important work being done to establish the National Consumer Protection Framework, which aims to standardise harm minimisation controls for wagering services across all states and territories.

These amendments to the Interactive Gambling Act will also enable the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) to enforce compliance, and respond to any complaints about lottery betting services being provided by either Australian or international operators. The Government recently expanded the powers of the ACMA to take stronger action against the provision of illegal interactive gambling services to Australians.

Conclusion

Many Australians enjoy lotteries and keno as a recreational activity, and the Government is committed to ensuring online gambling takes place under a robust legislative framework with strong consumer protections and within the boundaries of community standards.

I commend this Bill.

PROTECTION OF THE SEA LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2018

SECOND READING SPEECH

Australia is heavily reliant on international shipping. Ninety-nine per cent of our imports and exports by weight are carried by ships. Therefore, as a government, it is our duty to ensure that our laws for the prevention of marine pollution are adequate, up to date and consistent with international law.

The Bill I present today, the Protection of the Sea Legislation Amendment Bill 2018, will ensure that the framework for preventing marine pollution is in line with international requirements. It will also allow for consistency between key pieces of legislation that implement our obligations domestically, and provide for the continued application of the Protection of the Sea levy legislation without unnecessary regulation.

The Bill primarily amends the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983, known as the POTS Act. The POTS Act, together with the Navigation Act 2012, implement domestically our international obligations stemming from the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (known as MARPOL) adopted at the International Maritime Organization, or IMO.

The amendments to the POTS Act set out in this Bill will implement Australia's international obligations to ensure that the master of a ship has vital information relating to relevant cargoes on board before discharging the residues of those cargoes. This will allow the master to discharge these residues appropriately, and only into the sea where it has been determined, and declared that the cargo residues are not harmful to the marine environment.

Australia's implementation of these amendments to MARPOL is consistent with our long­-standing support for protection of the marine environment, and our active backing of, and participation in the IMO.

The Bill also makes a machinery change to the Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy Collection) Act 1981. The amendment will remove the need for regulations to prescribe the manner in which a Protection of the Sea levy notice may be served in particular circumstances. This minor change will allow the Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy Collection) Regulations to be repealed, removing a dated and now-unnecessary piece of regulation.

Together, these amendments will ensure consistent and efficient legislation and that Australia continues to meet its international obligations.

I commend the Bill.

STATUTE UPDATE (AUTUMN 2018) BILL 2018

SECOND READING SPEECH

The Statute Update (Autumn 2018) Bill 2018 makes minor and technical changes to the Commonwealth statute book to improve its quality and accuracy.

Statute Law Revision Acts and Statute Stocktake Acts have been passed on a regular basis since 1934 as a means of removing obsolete and spent provisions from the statute book and correcting mistakes in drafting. They are traditionally non-controversial and regarded as an essential means of keeping the Commonwealth statute book accurate and up-to-date.

The process of statute law revision and update aims to enhance the clarity and efficient use of the statute book. These bills:

This Bill contains six schedules.

Schedule 1 corrects errors in five principal Acts and makes minor technical improvements to clarify the text of the law.

Schedule 2 amends four Acts to replace outdated references to "the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia" with references to "Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand".

Schedule 3 to the Bill makes amendments to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 which are consequential to the enactment of the Acts and Instruments (Frameworks Reform) Act 2015. These amendments provide additional guidance on the application of sunsetting and disallowance provisions of the Legislation Act 2003 and update superseded references to the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 to the Legislation Act2003.

Schedule 4 repeals 22 obsolete references to the Crown in right of Norfolk Island, reflecting the abolition of that body politic on 1 July 2016.

Schedule 5 repeals spent provisions in two Acts.

Schedule 6 repeals 40 amending Acts which are now obsolete.

These ongoing corrections and improvements to legislation are important to ensure that the Commonwealth statute book remains up-to-date, accurate and user-friendly.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.