GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 234, 15 September 1922, Page 2

GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA.

P REFORM -AND OTHERWISE, d Sydney, August 30 I- Several aspects of gambling have n been before several of the States of the Commonwealth duriag the iast t week or so. , In New South Wales tho Government has just outlined proposals de>e signed to combat the gambling mania They refer chiefly to promiscous lotteries and raffles. Steps will be taken in the new Act to restrict the operations of Tattersall’s Sweeps and the Golden Casket, tho art union by which the e Queensland Government obtains money s for the upkeep of its hospitals. It will be made an offence for newspapers :. to publish the result of these sweeps, the penalty imposed by the Act may be recovered m a summary way before any Police Court. The display upon any premises of any information regarding a foreign lottery will be an offence punishable by a fine of £2OO It has been the usual practice for art union and raffle tickets to be sold anywhere and everywhere. The , new Act will restrict the sale to the ” bazaar or fair with which the art union e is connected. Drastic provisions for the safeguard- ’ ing of the public are proposed in the form of a clause that will state that ’ anybody concerned in the conduct of a ? raffle or lottery who converts to his 1 own use any of the prizes or the money 1 raised shall be lable to five years’ im prison men t. A fine of £lOO is provided ’ for anybody who fakes tickets, or i> 3 responsible for a lottery being drawn 1 in an unfair manner The whole question of gambling ha> been under discussion in Victoria, in connection with a motion In the Assembly for the introduction* of tb p totalisator to racecourses. After acrimonious debate the proposal was narrowly defeated. As It took many years for similiar proposal ro be legalised in New South Wales, there is still hope for Victoria. In Queensland the Government is meeting with much criticism, because of its illogical attitude in conducting an art union at the same time that it carries out a persistent campaign • against other forms of gambling, such ' as pakapoo and “two-up. n