MR. HUI:
LET SPEECH BY HON HUI YIN TAT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 13.1.88
Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1987
Resumption of debate on Second Reading (9 December 1987)
Question proposed. sir,
l.c.
le
сер
The introduction of the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1987 represents Government's sensitive response to the call for a review of the appropriation of lotteries proceeds. While the Bill serves to guarantee a more stable income for the Lotteries Fund our only major funding source for capital social welfare projects, the higher level of funding falls far short of our expectations.
The explicit objective of the Lotteries Fund, clearly stated in the Betting Duty Ordinance amended in 1975 and known to the general public, is to provide an entity through which unspent money raised by the Mark Six lotteries could be channelled to social welfare services.
activities
The Fund established back in 1965 thus gives meaning and justification to an otherwise strictly gambling activity. It can be said that the Mark Six owes its popularity to public endorsement of a collective fund-raising effort for social welfare purpose. However, to what extent funds raised could in fact benefit social welfare is a matter that has remained undebated.
Let us examine closely the budgetting on the total proceeds, from the lotteries. Since 1975, a big slice of the cake that 60 per cent has been allocated for prize money,
is
albeit
a downward revision in 1985 to 59 per cent, which according to the 1987 bill has to remain at this level in order to sustain public interest. Another largesse is taken up by betting duty, which rose from 25 per cent in 1975 to 30 per cent in 1985. the remaining 11 per cent, administrative costs combining operation aprecating costs for lotteries and horse betting paid to the
of
Royal Hong Kong Jockey club is now fixed at 7.5 per cent of the
Cup
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