Australian federal parliament banned online poker Tuesday after the Senate passed an amendment bill to close “loopholes,” moving from tightening up laws around online gambling to outright removal, reported the Huffington Post Australia.
Australia has attempted to remove online gambling before, namely in the 2015 Review of Illegal Offshore Wagering, which aimed to regulate the industry more harshly; and the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act, which tried to get rid of the industry altogether with the removal of online gambling (including poker, blackjack and roulette).
This amendment, the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, would prevent players from playing at all by getting rid of the ambiguity and closing out that opportunity, Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm said.