Editing Betfair (section)

====Australia====
{{see also|Betfair Pty Limited v Western Australia}}
In November 2005 the [[Government of Tasmania|Tasmanian government]] announced a deal to license [[Betfair Australia]] in the state. It was the second licence awarded to Betfair outside the [[United Kingdom]], the first being in [[Malta]] with subsequent licences following in Austria and Germany, and Tasmania now receives substantial tax revenues. However it infuriated the established monopolistic [[totalisator]]s and bookmakers (due to loss of revenue) and governments (due to loss of taxes) in the other [[Australian state]]s. A ban on the use of betting exchanges took effect in Western Australia on 29 January 2007, with Betfair successfully claiming this new law violated the [[Constitution of Australia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virtualformguide.com/cgi-bin/tvf/displaynewsitem.pl?20070129zbetfair.txt|title=Betfair Issues High Court Challenge|publisher=virtualformguide.com|access-date=8 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618162127/http://www.virtualformguide.com/cgi-bin/tvf/displaynewsitem.pl?20070129zbetfair.txt|archive-date=18 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a unanimous [[Betfair Pty Limited v Western Australia|verdict]] by the [[High Court of Australia]] on 27 March 2008, the two provisions of the legislation, purporting to ban Western Australians from using a betting exchange and prohibiting an unauthorised business from using Western Australian race lists, were declared invalid as they applied to Betfair. The provisions were characterised as imposing a burden on interstate trade that was protectionist in nature and therefore contravened section 92 of the constitution. The Court decision suggests, but leaves open, that a more narrowly drafted ban may have been allowed (e.g., banning people in Western Australia from laying "lose bets" on events held in Western Australia).<ref name="Betfair v WA HCA">{{cite AustLII|HCA|11|2008|litigants=[[Betfair Pty Limited v Western Australia]] |parallelcite=(2008) 234 [[Commonwealth Law Reports|CLR]] 418 |date=27 March 2008 |courtname=[[High Court of Australia|High Court]]}}.</ref>

In the 2012 High Court case of ''Betfair Pty Limited v Racing New South Wales'', Betfair's appeal, against a newly enacted fee to access New South Welsh vital race field information, was rejected.<ref name="Betfair v NSW HCA">{{cite AustLII|HCA|12|2012|litigants=[[Betfair Pty Limited v Racing New South Wales]] |parallelcite=(2012) 249 [[Commonwealth Law Reports|CLR]] 217 |date=30 March 2012|courtname=[[High Court of Australia|High Court]]}}.</ref> The Court held that the relevant law would have no discriminatory or protectionist effect on interstate trade, thereby complying with [[section 92 of the Constitution of Australia]], and that Betfair had not proven that the fee would cause significant economic damage (not to the extent of the appellants in ''[[Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia]]''<ref name="Tooheys HCA">{{cite AustLII|HCA|1|1990|litigants=[[Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia]] |parallelcite=(1990) 169 [[Commonwealth Law Reports|CLR]] 436 |date=7 February 1990 |courtname=[[High Court of Australia|High Court]]}}.</ref>).

In August 2014, Betfair completed the sale of their 50% stake in Betfair Australia to venture partner [[Crown Resorts]], one of Australia's largest gaming and entertainment groups.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/11030455/Betfair-sells-50pc-stake-in-Australian-business.html|title=Betfair sells 50pc stake in Australian business|date=13 August 2014|access-date=23 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814020634/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/11030455/Betfair-sells-50pc-stake-in-Australian-business.html|archive-date=14 August 2014|url-status=live|work=Telegraph}}</ref>