The Senate has passed a bill which places a moratorium on the granting of new online gambling licences in Australia.
In a last minute move, the federal government has won the support of Greens Senator Bob Brown in what has has been dubbed a "shameless political ploy".
The legislation was lost in October by one vote - that of Tasmanian Greens Senator Bob Brown, who wouldn't support legislation that didn't exempt wagering - such as horse racing and other sports betting.
The exemptions sought by Brown would allow Tasmanian, Victorian and WA TABs to conduct online sports wagering - in line with other state and Territory operations.
"I am personally vexed," advisor to the ACT Attorney General Gary Humphries, Vicki Dunne, told ZDNet. "It was a shameless political ploy to get the bill up."
The Bill's success in the Senate rests on those ammendments being made, ultimately securing Senator Brown's vote.
The fear now among many ministers is that a 12-month moratorium on new interactive gambling licenses will force Australians to "less well-regulated international sites" Dunne said.
"The Federal Government would be better off putting its resources and energy into more effective things, such as working with the states on an interactive gambling code of practice," she added.
Instead, what the Feds have created is a monopolised market for online gambling companies that currently operate with licenses, namely Lasseters and Gocorp.
"If we go down this path we'll end up giving a free kick to those already licensed who will continue to monopolise," Dunne said. "They can literally do anything they like."
The Interactive Gambling Moratorium Bill bans any new online gambling licenses being distributed and is backdated to May 19 - thus calls into question two licenses in the ACT and five or more in Tasmania granted since the May deadline.
It will depend on the provisions of the Bill whether or not those licences are banned.
Senator Bob Brown said his support for the government's moratorium on online gambling was "out of concern for the spread of availability of poker machine style betting into Australian homes".
Furthermore, the diversion of money into gambling costs jobs out of the retail sector, according to Brown.
"It may be that for each job created by online gambling, two will be lost in shops and other services," Senator Brown said.
The Bill has yet to be signed off by the Governor General, which should happen within a week, and will be considered again next May when it expires.
"[The moratorium] won't in any way diminish Internet gambling," Dunne said. "[The Fed's] are flogging a dead horse. I really can't fathom why they would bother persisting."
