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the wowsers have too much of a say in the Aussie media

This is one of the reasons why I'm happy to live outside Australia these days. Too many idiots allowed to have their say in the media because they are prudes or don't like something. It's turning into a nanny state, nobody's allowed to do anything remotely fun because 1% of the population might take offence or become addicted to it. Stop making the fine brown land like America, it's full of enough bible-bashing do-gooders as it is.

If you've seen any cricket from Australia lately, you've probably noticed the commentators mentioning the Betfair prices occasionally. Why is this a bad thing? It's just another way of saying the public reckon Australia has a 63% chance of winning, South Africa 21% and the draw 16%. The player protection rules in Australia are stronger than anywhere in the world. There is no debit card system which allows minors to play. Every punter has to undergo a 100pt ID check etc.

The ICC have stated in previous interviews they are concerned about betting corruption by way of the players being contacted by unscrupulous individuals, which leads to betting via the black market - ie in India where it's illegal and unregulated. They've said broadcasting prices on air is trivial, yet the ABC keep bringing it up.

ABC Online transcript

Today Tonight clip

Channel 9 which broadcasts the cricket is owned by the Packer group, which half-owns Betfair Australia. Channel 7 (Today Tonight) and the ABC will take any opportunity to shoot them down in jealousy for having the longest-running sporting broadcast rights in Australia. Thankfully Today Tonight is usually written off as utter dribble with no journalistic merit at all. Last year they had a scandal at the tennis because someone backed Federer at 1000 in the Betfair Aus Open outright market after he'd just lost. If you're stupid enough to do that when you know the guy has been beaten, do you deserve any protection??
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