The fight over Australia’s online gambling regulatory review has escalated quickly after the pubs and clubs lobby asked the government to impose a point of consumption tax (POCT) on online operators.

So far, stakeholder submissions to the government’s review of the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act have focused on (a) how to deal with international sites not holding Australian licenses, and (b) whether or not to allow Australian online operators to offer in-play sports wagers.

But a submission to the government by Clubs Australia, the group representing the nation’s 6,500 licensed clubs, says talk of international competition is a “pretense” intended to “extract a range of regulatory concessions from government with respect to taxation and harm minimization.” Thus, any and all suggestions of authorizing legal online in-play wagers “should be dismissed.”

Frankly, Clubs Australia, whose members operate the country’s most addictive form of gambling, has a lot of cheek to talk about online operators dodging harm minimization responsibilities, but they were just getting started.