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Offshore gambling revenue targeted in New Zealand regulation proposals

Xinhua, April 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand government is mulling plans to charge overseas gambling firms for bets received from New Zealand as it seeks to stem a decline in betting revenue.

Racing Minister Nathan Guy on Friday released proposed changes to the Racing Act designed to ensure returns from betting continue to support New Zealand racing and sport organizations.

By law, the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) is the only New Zealand-based provider of racing and sports betting via the government-mandated Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) and the NZRB distributes profits back to racing and sports in New Zealand.

"A working group has found that a growing number of New Zealanders are gambling through offshore betting agencies, which raises a number of issues," Guy said in a statement.

"In 2015, about 40,000 New Zealanders turned over 518 million NZ dollars (356.54 million U.S. dollars) offshore with 58 million NZ dollars (39.92 million U.S. dollars) in losses -- this represents potential lost revenue of up to 45 million NZ dollars (30.97 million U.S. dollars) for local racing and sports organizations."

The TAB also ensured proceeds from gambling supported local sporting and racing activities and that punters operated within a regulatory framework that minimized gambling harm.

"Neither of these things occur when people bet with offshore providers," said Guy.

The proposals were intended to make the TAB more competitive and help ensure offshore providers paid their fair share of support.

They included a consumption fee for offshore gambling operators accepting bets from New Zealand and a "use of data" fee for offshore gambling operators using New Zealand race and sport data.

"These proposals are not designed to get more people gambling -- it's about attracting New Zealand money currently gambled overseas back within our framework. This will support local racing and sports and better mitigate gambling harm," he said.

"The New Zealand racing industry is a major contributor to the economy. It generates 1.6 billion NZ dollars (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in gross domestic product and provides for 17,000 full-time jobs." Endit