NSW govt just can't stop fiddling with a supposedly free market

From a Betfair Australia email to affiliates:

On 3rd December 2008 the NSW state government passed an Amending Act for the advertising laws in New South Wales, the Amending Act enables all Australian licensed wagering operators to legally advertise in NSW. The Act included a regulation whereby licensed wagering operators are not permitted to publish gambling advertising that “offers any credit, voucher or reward as an inducement to participate, or to participate frequently, in any gambling activity (including as an inducement to open a betting account)”.

In essence, this means that by law Betfair can no longer advertise free bet offers to residents of NSW. It should be noted that the legal onus is on Betfair to comply and that there is no legal risk on the affiliate for displaying a Betfair free bet advertisement to a NSW resident. Additionally, it is the advertising of, rather than the crediting of, a free bet which is now illegal in NSW....

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If this restriction applies to all gambling operators, namely those pesky gaming machines which ruin families (approx 95% of problem gambling cases in Australia come from either poker (fruit/slot) machines or casinos, not sports betting), then this would be a justifiable social policy. But it's not. It's just another level of interference to protect their baby, the TAB, which has the legislated monopoly on off-course betting outlets in NSW. Once upon a time the TAB was a government agency. Now it is privatised, answering first and foremost to its shareholders....

So why do they deserve one iota of protection??

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