Online wagering rivals "have joined forces to launch a national campaign" against South Australia's new "punters tax," appealing to gamblers to "lobby local members to kill the budget measure," according to Sarah-Jane Tasker of THE AUSTRALIAN. Sportsbet CEO Cormac Barry said that he planned to write to his more than 100,000 South Australian customers "to warn against the tax." Barry: "When the South Australian Treasurer refuses to engage with us on any real sense we are left with little choice but to take the fight directly to the public." Corporate bookmakers, including Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, bet365, betfair and Unibet, will on Monday launch a campaign called "stop the punters tax," with full-page newspaper advertisements and a social media campaign. Barry said, "The tax has come from left field, with no consultation and it makes South Australia the highest taxed online wagering environment in the world." The Sportsbet chief, "who also said the industry was considering its legal options, warned operators could withdraw from the state." Barry: "That would mean no funding to racing and sport, no GST to the federal government, no corporation taxes to the federal government ... there's no such thing as a free hit in the economy" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/2).
