Image by Sanchez Lin from Pixabay
Australia’s Lottery Corporation’s latest earnings report showed record revenues for the lottery business. The report was presented to shareholders at the company’s third Annual General Meeting.
CEO Sue van der Merwe told shareholders,
“We’ll continue to do what lotteries have been doing for decades – make positive impacts for customers, shareholders, governments, small businesses and the community,”
In her address to shareholders, she revealed that lottery revenue was up by 14.7% on the previous year and reported that there are now 4.75 million active registered lottery customers. They continue to perform well across the Australian Stock Exchange and show no signs of letting up for the moment. The Australian Lottery Corporation also runs online keno games, and profits are up in this sector, too, only this time by a slightly less impressive 2%.
The Australian gambling market
It should not come as any big surprise that lottery and keno are doing well in Australia, as the country has a well-known penchant for enjoying a flutter. Many commentators regard gambling as part of the cultural fabric of the country, and a recent BBC article described it as the “sports gambling capital of the world”.
Australians are reportedly the world’s biggest gamblers, and the only place in the world with more gaming machines than New South Wales is Nevada – home to Las Vegas. New South Wales has about 90,000 physical pokie machines – the equivalent of one for every 88 people. Nevada has 120,000 machines and a population of 3.1 million!
However, it is not just New South Wales that loves the pokies; despite having less than 1% of the global population, 18% of the world’s slot machines can be found in the country. The world’s biggest pokie manufacturer is the Australian company Aristocrat.
Not everyone is a winner
While the Australia Lottery Corporation might like to boast that the lottery created 320 overnight millionaires with AUS$ 4.4 billion paid out to players, gambling is a business, and for every winner, there are more losers. Australia records the world’s most significant gambling loss per capita.
The gambling operators, on the other hand, clean up. None of this is a problem if people treat gambling as they would any other form of entertainment that involves a cost, but some people have a less healthy relationship with the pastime. Therefore, there has recently been considerable pressure for the Australian government to bring forward legislation to restrict gambling advertising, and a total ban has even been mentioned.
A broader view of Oceania’s gambling market
While Australia might be Oceania’s largest land mass, it is far from the only nation that has a predilection for gambling. The region has a unique set of circumstances that has fuelled the biggest driver in the region’s gambling market – online casinos and sports betting platforms. The remote and often isolated nature of communities and countries means that online gambling has become a popular alternative to traditional land-based casinos, pubs, and clubs. Gambling is widespread across the continent, and online gambling is readily accessible thanks to decent broadband and mobile network connections.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the pokies have a distinctive place in people’s hearts. Not only are they great fun to play, but playing on physical machines also means that a high proportion of the money staked goes to good causes. Like the lottery and keno in Australia, New Zealand’s pokies are a great source of alternative funding for all kinds of projects. This led to a proliferation of machines and a broad acceptance of this kind of gambling.
While their online counterparts do not have the good-cause element, they have the advantage of being easily accessible and convenient. However, the great advantage of a physical pokie is the instant gratification when the coins hit the payout tray. The online casinos know that fast withdrawal is crucial if they want to recreate the same levels of excitement. According to experts, the ‘fastest payout online casino’ is one of the highest searches for people who gamble online. When players hit the jackpot, cashing out is the top priority.
Papua New Guinea
Prior to the Colonial era, gambling did not exist in the country, according to Anthony J Pickles’s book Money Games. The author claims that gambling has continued as the number one nighttime activity in urban areas of the country. When the colonisers arrived, they made gambling illegal for everyone other than themselves, but that did not stop the local population from joining in. I took off during World War II and was ubiquitous by the 1970s. After independence from Australia, the PNG authorities banned card games altogether.
However, as we have seen in most other countries, prohibiting something rarely ends it but simply drives it underground. As can be seen from the Australian Lottery Company’s earnings, gambling revenues, and taxes are essential income streams to government coffers. Casino gambling was legalised in Papua New Guinea when Parliament passed the Gaming Control Bill in 2007. The bill allows for land-based casinos and internet gambling.
The Future of Gambling in Oceania
While there are efforts to restrict gambling advertisements in Australia, the market as a whole is regarded as incredibly healthy in terms of finance and innovation. While the region is physically remote, the internet has made the world a much smaller place for international gambling companies.
With populations who are active gamblers, online casino platforms are keen to attract as many players to their sites as possible. While absolute numbers might be smaller than in other countries, the area’s predisposition to gambling makes it a very attractive region for investment.
While licensed New Zealand operators are not allowed to offer online casino games, there is nothing to stop New Zealanders gambling at offshore sites. With high per capita income, they are an attractive target market for gaming companies. New Zealanders can access sites tailored to their currency and tastes and cash in on a wide range of bonuses and offer designed ‘just for them.’
Online gambling revenue in Oceania is projected to reach US$6.18 billion this year and be worth US$7.11 billion by 2029. The figures speak for themselves and indicate that online gambling will continue to make significant inroads in the region now and in the future.
