XN000022-1996-04-24 — Page 44

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Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1995

Following is the speech the acting Secretary for Home Affairs. Mrs Stella Hung, in resuming the second reading debate on the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1995 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President.

I am grateful to the Honourable Howard Young and his colleagues on the "Bills Committee to Study the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1995" for their wise counsel and the time they have spent in examining the Bill.

The Bill has two main objectives. First, it introduces a Quincila Place bet and defines the rate of betting duty on that bet. The Quinella Place requires a punter to select two horses to finish in any order in the first three places to be eligible for a dividend.

During the deliberations of the Bills Committee, some Members expressed concerns that the introduction of this bet might encourage gambling and therefore would have social impact on our community. I would like to explain that the Quinella Place bet is essentially an extension of the existing Quinella and Place bets. It should not have the effect of inducing non-punters to start betting and that its social impact would be minimal. The following figures will support this observation. The estimated annual betting turnover of this bet only amounts to about 9% of the total betting turnover for the 1994/95 racing season. The introduction of this bet would not have any significant impact.

The other main objective of the Bill is to impose betting duty on overseas bets on Hong Kong races into the Hong Kong pools at half of the prevailing rates. The other half would be allocated to the respective overseas governments, subject to the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club's negotiations and finalization of the details with them. This proposal will not affect Hong Kong, apart from the fact that Hong Kong will benefit from an increase in betting duty and an increase in the funds available for allocation from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club to local charities.

1 understand that the Honourable Howard Young will move a Committee Stage Amendment to the effect that agreements between the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and its overseas partners on setting up overseas betting venues should be subject to the approval of the Secretary for Home Affairs. I confirm that the Government has no policy objection to this Amendment. I take the opportunity to inform this Council that the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club has also confirmed its agreement to it.