Golden Casket
Golden Casket is the public limited lottery corporation in Queensland trading on ASX, Australia. It sells lottery tickets and Instant Scratch-Its tickets (scratchcards) through newsagents and other convenience stores. Lottery draws are televised on Channel Seven four nights a week.
The drawing of the first Golden Casket in 1917 by Queensland Patriotic Fund was to raise money to support veterans of World War I. The operation was soon taken over by the Queensland Government. In 1938, the casket paid for the construction of the new Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital.[1]
In April, 2007, the Queensland Government decided to sell off Golden Casket to the gambling company, Tattersall's Limited for $530 million, with the proceeds going to the Royal Children's Hospital. The Government will continue to retain ownership of the Queensland asset, and receive the $150 million held in reserves. Taxes will still be collected from Lotteries, however.[2]
On June 1, 2016 the Golden Casket brand became one of the four Tatts Group jurisdictional brands to be incorporated into a national lottery brand called ‘the Lott’. The other brands being Tatts Lottery, NSW Lotteries and SA Lotteries
Cultural references
Winning the Golden Casket is a major event in Neville Shute's novel A Town Like Alice.