Lottoland urges new regulations in Australia

The company has urged the Australian government to reconsider the proposed ban on online lottery betting.

Australia.- Lottoland is asking the Australian government to reconsider its stance on the online lottery betting ban. Concerns were raised over the financial situation of the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA).

Luke Brill, CEO of Lottoland Australia, called on the Federal Government to review its proposed ban in light of revelations that the body that represents newsagents is supposedly broke. The executive said that previously unpublished documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) showed that the parent company behind ALNA was facing financial ruin.

“These ASIC documents raise serious questions about the financial situation at ALNA and its ability to continue to operate as a going concern, let alone to represent the interest of its members,” said Brill. “According to ALNA’s own auditors, the organisation is in financial disarray, with the auditors telling ASIC that there is ‘significant uncertainty’ as to whether the group will continue as a going concern,” added the CEO.

The ban wouldn’t allow Australian players to bet on the outcome of international lotteries, a move that ALNA has heavily supported and has been previously labelled as positive. Brill also questioned the 4,000 ALNA membership number, as he considers it to be much lower: “We’re shocked and disappointed to find out that a body that the Government believes has over 4,000 newsagents nationally as members has in fact only 707 paid members – about 80 per cent less than claimed,” he said, adding that this raises major questions over ALNA’s motivations and whether “it has misled not just the Government and others MPs, but whether it has also misled the public.”

The CEO accused ALNA of acting against newsagents’ interests by advocating for laws that would leave an unprecedented monopoly in the country and appealed to the Government to reconsider the proposed legislation. “Rather than address the shocking state of its financial affairs, ALNA has inexplicably taken part in a $5 million lobbying campaign to convince the Government to ban online lottery betting, which will leave newsagents at the mercy of a Tabcorp monopoly,” and added: “Given these revelations, we are asking the Government to put a stop to the planned legislation and start listening to newsagents on the ground.”

On the other hand, ALNA responded to Lottoland’s claims and said that the company has twisted facts and figures about Australia’s national industry body for newsagents. “The Australian Newsagent’s Federation (ANF) Board of Directors who trade as ALNA has instructed their lawyer to investigate all legal avenues against the false allegations contained in Lottoland’s press release dated 1st of May.”

Moreover, ALNA’s CEO Adam Joy said: “ALNA is solvent and represents approximately 2,000-member small businesses. Any rumours to the contrary are unequivocally false and salacious… As Lottoland now faces the closure of the loophole that it operates in, it has pulled out stunt after stunt in desperate attempts to hoodwink the public.”