June 27 - Australian lottery fans face disappointment with the news that the
country's Wednesday night lotto draws be suspended indefinitely due to
indecision on the part of the Victoria Government, resulting in the loss of
revenues for the state's taxpayers.
The State Government approved its second lotteries operator, Greek-based
Intralot, which in effect ended the Tatts Group's 55-year lotteries
monopoly. Now there are two sales rights - basic lotteries in one license
(Tatts), and scratch cards, Keno and electronic games (Intralot) for the other.
However, in their wisdom, the State Government failed to allocate Wednesday's
lotto draw to either Intralot or Tatts Group, which means it will most likely be
put on hold indefinitely, and deprive lottery fans in the state from their
Wednesday fix.
Said Tatts chief executive, Dick McIlwain, 'We did not receive permission from
the state to upgrade Wednesday's lotto draw to a bloc game, which means pooling
revenues from all over Australia, as opposed to just Victoria, even though we
did submit an application in 2005.
'No agent will get sales commissions from Wednesday lotto because the
Government's been sitting on its hands for three bloody years on this one,' said
the clearly irritated McIlwain.
Tony Robinson, State Gaming Minister, has confirmed that both companies have
applied for rights to operate the Wednesday lotto draw, which means it must
follow strict gaming license procedures and guidelines.
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