Gaming and Betting (Amendment) Bill

The Hon. J. P. HANNAFORD (Attorney General, Minister for Justice, and Vice President of the Executive Council), on behalf of the Hon. Virginia Chadwick [8.29]: I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

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

Leave granted.

The Gaming and Betting Act was initially drafted in 1912, at a time when community values regarding gambling were significantly different to what they are today.

It has become clear that a major review of the existing legislation is necessary, but there are certain obvious inadequacies in the Gaming and Betting Act which need to be addressed urgently.

The current proposed amendments originated from an inter-departmental inquiry into prohibited amusement devices. This inquiry highlighted some changes which were clearly required immediately.

Subsequent discussions with the New South Wales Crime Commission indicated that there was also an urgent need to strengthen the existing laws in relation to unlawful bookmaking.

Because of the urgent need to strengthen controls over unlawful bookmaking and prohibited amusement devices, a task force of officers has been established to review the legislation in its entirety.

The first meeting of the task force was held on 18th October, 1993. It is planned that the task force will provide its final report to me by 1st September, 1994, but provision has been made for staged reporting before that time, if required.

In the meantime, in view of the fact that particular deficiencies in the Act have already been identified - deficiencies which are affecting the immediate control of illegal gambling - it is proposed to proceed with specific amendments which I shall now turn to.

Mr President, the bill introduces several new controls aimed at S.P. bookmaking.

The Act is presently constructed in a way which makes it unlawful to operate a bookmaking operation in a public place - that is, "Street" betting - or to operate a bookmaking operation in a private place - that is, "Place" betting or keeping a "betting house". This distinction means that some mobile S.P. operations can slip between the gaps of "street" betting and "place" betting.

The bill introduces a new offence of unlawful bookmaking, for which it will be unnecessary to show that the activity occurred in a particular place or street, in order to convict.

A further new offence of having a financial interest in the business of bookmaking is also to be introduced, to assist law enforcement agencies to capture the principals behind large bookmaking businesses.

First offences of unlawful bookmaking will be able to be prosecuted either summarily (that is, before a Local Court magistrate) or on indictment (that is, before a District Court judge). The significance of this option is that it brings into play the provisions of the Confiscation of Proceeds of Crimes Act, which defines a serious offence as one which may be prosecuted on indictment.

The New South Wales Crime Commission believes that the ability to confiscate proceeds of unlawful bookmaking will prove a useful measure in combating major S.P. bookmaking operations.

The final provision aimed at tightening controls over bookmaking relates to the forfeiture of unlawful betting aids. Presently, police may seize unlawful betting aids such as ledgers, mobile telephones, tape-recorders, and diverters, but they are required to return these items even if the owner is subsequently convicted of a bookmaking offence. The bill will allow the court to order the forfeiture of these devices.

Mr President, the next group of amendments which I should like to address are those related to prohibited amusement devices.

The existing penalty structure under the Gaming and Betting Act provides for a maximum penalty for possession of prohibited amusement devices under section 17A of the Gaming and Betting Act of 10 penalty units ($1,000) or imprisonment for 12 months.

It is proposed to introduce the same penalties for offences relating to prohibited amusement devices as currently apply to street betting and place betting under the Act - that is, a maximum of $10,000 or 12 months imprisonment for a first offence, and a maximum of $50,000 or 2 years imprisonment for second or subsequent offences.

It is also proposed to amend the Act to provide a maximum penalty of $50,000 for corporations which are convicted of possession of a prohibited amusement device. This is consistent with the maximum penalty which may be imposed on corporations in disciplinary proceedings under the Liquor Act.

The bill also provides the court with the power to order a defendant to pay the expenses incurred by the police in taking possession of, transporting, and storing under security a prohibited amusement device while it is held for evidentiary purposes.

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Mr President, the bill also introduces an amendment in relation to what has become known as "phantom race meetings".

The Gaming and Betting Act was amended in 1989 to allow betting to be conducted on a racecourse following the abandonment of the race meeting prior to the conduct of the first race.

The declaration of a "phantom race meeting" allows betting to take place on-course on intra- and inter-state race meetings, and full services to be offered by the club to its patrons even though the race meeting has been abandoned.

The Australian Jockey Club approached the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing seeking a further change to the legislation, to allow race clubs to postpone meetings on the day preceding a programmed meeting. At present, the declaration of a phantom meeting must take place on the scheduled day of the meeting.

The bill provides for this extension of the "phantom" race meeting concept.

Mr President, the final amendments which I should like to discuss relate to validating certain proceedings which have been instituted outside the requirements of the Act.

Section 60 of the Act provides that, except where otherwise provided, proceedings for an offence against the Act shall be dealt with summarily before a Local Court. Second or subsequent offences in respect of certain specified provisions are to be "prosecuted on indictment and not otherwise."

Some proceedings for second offences in respect of the specified provisions were instituted and dealt with by a local court. The bill provides for the validation of any such proceedings.

Mr President, as I have indicated earlier, these amendments will not result in a perfect set of controls over unlawful gaming and betting operations in this State.

The amendments are aimed at bringing some immediate assistance to the work of the two law enforcement agencies, the Police Service and the Crime Commission.

Following the report of the task force, it is likely that more significant amendments to the Act will be identified as being necessary, in order to ensure that the Act can provide effective controls over the unlawful gambling industry into the next century.

It is hoped that those significant amendments will be brought before this House within the next 12 months.

I commend the bill to the House.

The Hon. B. H. VAUGHAN (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [8.29]: The Opposition supports the Gaming and Betting (Amendment) Bill.

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH [8.30]: The Chief Secretary and Minister for Administrative Services said in her second reading speech in the other place:

The Gaming and Betting Act was originally drafted in 1912 at a time when community values regarding gambling were significantly different to what they are today. It has become clear that a major review of the existing legislation is necessary.

A task force has been established and had its first meeting on 18th October. It is planned that the task force will provide its final report to the Minister by 1st September next year. However, in the meantime it is necessary to bring forward certain amendments which will assist greatly in implementing the provisions in the Gaming and Betting Act. The first of these is to tighten up the offences, for starting price betting has been in existence for many, many years and is still being carried out. Once upon a time the SP bookmaker had to have an office with a number of telephones to conduct his business. It was fairly easy for the police to crack down on the SP bookmaker because of this fact. However, with the introduction of mobile telephones it has become more difficult to clamp down on this operation.

If we are serious about cracking down on SP betting it is necessary for us to do the same in respect of betting on other sports. At present betting on sports other than racing is not legalised. When I became Minister one of the first things I attempted to do was to legalise betting on other sports but betting could take place only on a racecourse. This had the approval of Cabinet but because of the outcry from a number of people, including the rugby league, it was decided to withdraw the proposed legislation and shelve it for the time being. The argument put forward by the rugby league board was that legalising betting on rugby league could create inherent dangers such as players being bribed to miss kicks, drop balls and all that nonsense. Rugby league is a highly professional game with players paid big money, so to them winning is more important than losing. Betting on football is rampant in Great Britain and to my knowledge there have not been any misdoings in respect of soccer or football in the United Kingdom.

The Act is at present constructed in such a way that it makes it unlawful to conduct a bookmaking operation in a public place, that is, street betting, or to conduct a bookmaking operation in a private place, that is, place betting or keeping of a betting house. This distinction means that some mobile SP operators can slip between street betting and place betting. It is proposed to amend the Act to provide that SP betting, wherever occurring, is an offence and thus it is unnecessary to show that it occurred in a particular place or street in order to convict. Penalties for unlawful bookmaking have been increased, which will have a dampening effect on SP bookmakers. Another provision contained in the amendments is aimed at tightening controls over bookmaking relating to the forfeiture of unlawful betting aids. At present police may seize unlawful betting aids - such as ledgers, mobile telephones, tape recorders and diverters - but they are required to return these items, even if the owner is subsequently convicted of a bookmaking offence. The bill will allow the court to order the forfeiture of these devices.

The next group of amendments relates to prohibited amusement devices. Penalties in respect of these matters will be very much the same as those that apply to street betting. Hundreds of these machines have flooded Sydney's ethnic clubs, pool halls, coffee shops and small retail businesses. More than 300 seized in police raids are stacked in a secret inner-city warehouse. Such machines are believed to be responsible for raking in millions of dollars a year in illegal funds. An article which appeared in the Sun-Herald of 31st October stated:

Criminals are even targeting young teenagers by putting the machines in places such as milk bars.

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Chief Inspector Alan Leek, patrol commander at Cabramatta, which has a large Asian population, is concerned that standover tactics are sometimes used to force small shopkeepers to install the illicit machines. The chief inspector stated, "That, to me, is a more sinister form of extortion than young gangs going into shops and threatening to play up if they are not given money". The difficulty in respect of this matter is that making machines is not illegal; only operating them is. The article went on to state that Detective Superintendent Ray Southwell of the Drug Enforcement Agency said that because of the huge money at stake machines seized by police were quickly replaced. He said:

Once we raided the place at 11 o'clock at night and they had new machines operating by next morning.

The increased penalties could have an adverse effect on the illegal operators. The next matter addressed in the amendments concerns phantom race-meetings. As honourable members would be aware, phantom race-meetings can be held only on the day that a particular race-meeting has been cancelled. Racegoers can go to Randwick as late as 12 o'clock before the first race after there has been a deluge of rain and it has been decided to cancel the meeting and they can still bet on course with bookmakers and the tote or on race-meetings held in other States as well as provincial meetings within the State. The amendment will allow race clubs to postpone meetings on the day preceding a programmed meeting. This is a very worthwhile amendment which should have been brought in some time ago.

The Hon. J. R. Johnson: When you were the Minister.

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH: I tried.

The Hon. J. R. Johnson: You were done.

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH: I was unable to convince the powers that be.

The Hon. J. R. Johnson: You were a power.

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH: I thought I was a power, but there was also a Cabinet. You have to listen to what the Cabinet says. These amendments will not result in a perfect set of controls over unlawful gaming and betting operations in this State. They are aimed at bringing immediate assistance to the work of the two law enforcement agencies; namely, the Police Service and the Crime Commission. The work of the task force is important. When its report has been handed down next year no doubt further amendments will be introduced to the Gaming and Betting Act. One of the problems we face is that SP betting has been with us for ever and a day. Whatever we do, I do not think we will cut it out.

The Hon. J. R. Johnson: Did you ever get set with one?

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH: I used to have an SP bookmaker in Queensland. The Hon. J. R. Johnson might laugh, but where we were out in western Queensland there was no TAB, so if you wanted to have a bet you went to the local fellow. He was a good bloke, I must admit. But he really worried me on Melbourne Cup day in, I think, 1954. The stationhands put all the bets on with me and I rang him up. Unfortunately, the horses they backed did not do any good. Came the last race at Flemington, I rang him up to have a bet, but he had disappeared.

The Hon. J. R. Johnson: So you did not have to pay him?

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH: Yes, I did have to pay. These amendments will help in some way to crack down on starting price betting, through which the Government loses so much revenue. I am surprised that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not raise that issue. The Government is missing out on a lot of revenue through starting price bookmakers.

The Hon. J. R. Johnson: We are getting it now; Bob Askin was getting it previously.

The Hon. R. B. ROWLAND SMITH: Bob Askin was doing nothing of the kind. The honourable member should not mention his name in that regard. I knew Bob Askin extremely well. He was always on-course; he was never on a telephone. He truly supported racing. I support the proposed amendments. I hope the measure will cut down on illegal betting operations. I support the bill.

The Hon. R. S. L. JONES [8.41]: The Australian Democrats also support the legislation, which goes one step further towards assisting legitimate bookmakers to maintain their viability.

The Hon. J. P. HANNAFORD (Attorney General, Minister for Justice, and Vice President of the Executive Council) [8.42], in reply: I thank honourable members for their support of this important legislation, which I commend to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time and passed through remaining stages.