Wilkie escalates gambling reform fight with anti-corruption referral targeting Labor government

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has taken the fight over gambling reform to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, asking it to examine whether industry influence improperly shaped federal government policy.

In a letter dated Wednesday (August 12), Wilkie said he was concerned “individuals in the Federal Government, when formulating gambling reform policy, have been improperly influenced by individuals in the private sector, most obviously but not exclusively through donations, gifts, hospitality and personal relationships.”

He argued the policy that emerged was “so clearly at odds with research, public opinion and the public interest” that putting it into effect “could be characterised, in my opinion, as serious corruption in the Commonwealth public sector.”

The independent MP pointed to reporting published by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on July 22. He said the reports, if accurate, raised questions about whether private interests had affected how public officials exercised their powers and whether officials had breached public trust.

Wilkie made clear that accepting political donations, lobbying governments and making policy decisions are all legal. He was also “not making any allegation against any specific individual” in asking the commission to look more broadly at what happened.

Even so, he said the government’s conduct had gone beyond “all reasonable limits,” adding: “If this doesn’t ‘cross the line’, then I dread to think what would.”

Wilkie points to industry donations as questions raised over gambling policy influence

After making the referral, Wilkie said political support had to have boundaries.

“There must be a point at which support for a party or candidate becomes buying a party or a candidate.”

Using Australian Electoral Commission donor disclosures, Wilkie said gambling companies gave about $5 million to Labor across the 2020-21 to 2024-25 financial years. He put Liberal Party donations from the industry at between $4 million and $5 million over the same period.

His criticism has sharpened in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Wilkie accused Labor of walking away from meaningful reform after taking millions of dollars from gambling businesses.

He also attacked the Tasmanian Treasurer over the reversal of poker machine closing-hour changes, saying the decision returned the state to outdated harm-reduction settings. He said the Treasurer had “sold his soul to the gambling industry.”

Labor is facing pressure from the Coalition as well. During parliamentary debate, Liberal MP Simon Kennedy said the government had been pushed into negotiations after previously maintaining its bill would not change.

“The Prime Minister has lost the public debate on gambling advertising,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said a Senate inquiry had highlighted two serious gaps. In his view, Labor had not dealt strongly enough with gambling inducements and had left online advertising largely unrestricted, including digital advertising connected with live sport.

During his account of evidence presented to the inquiry, Kennedy told Parliament: “We heard about cocaine, we heard about prostitutes.”

He said Coalition senators Sarah Henderson and Angus Taylor were working on tougher amendments and called for an independent review after the next federal election.

Senate evidence pushes Labor toward tougher gambling restrictions

The inquiry attracted particular attention after allegations emerged about how some high-value gamblers were treated by VIP account managers.

Former NRL player Luke Bateman, who has publicly discussed losing about $1 million through gambling addiction, told senators he had been offered alcohol, illicit drugs and other inducements while being encouraged to keep betting.

Gambling reform campaigner Tim Costello said people he had supported had described similar experiences. He argued the accounts showed how inducements could be used to keep vulnerable customers gambling.

Sportsbet and Tabcorp rejected the allegations. Both told the inquiry they had no evidence that such behavior was part of their operations and said allegations of criminal conduct should go to police.

The testimony created another problem for Labor because its legislation did not adopt a central recommendation from the late Peta Murphy’s parliamentary inquiry: immediately banning online gambling inducements and advertising for those inducements.

After the hearings, the government indicated it was willing to negotiate tougher inducement restrictions with the Coalition to get its legislation through Parliament. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later told Labor’s caucus that further measures would target inducements and children’s exposure to gambling advertising.

Albanese has characterized the package as Australia’s strongest anti-gambling legislation. Taylor has described negotiations as constructive, but independents and public health campaigners say the changes remain well short of Murphy’s recommendations.

Children’s exposure also became a flashpoint during the Senate hearings. Henderson questioned Australian Communications and Media Authority executive manager Rochelle Zurnamer about existing restrictions on gambling advertisements around children’s programs.

Zurnamer explained those protections currently sit in the Commercial Television Code of Practice rather than legislation. She said ACMA expected them to remain, despite the new bill not addressing the matter.

Henderson said that was not enough.

“The current prohibition on running gambling ads during children’s, pre-school and general classified programming, or programming targeted to children, is not in this bill,” she said. “I would put to you that that is outrageous.”

Labor’s compromise leaves campaigners demanding a full advertising ban

Labor’s planned rules, due to begin on 1 January 2027, would restrict gambling advertising without imposing a complete ban. Television advertising would be capped, radio ads restricted during school commuting periods and advertising barred during live sports broadcasts.

The package would also bring digital platforms under new rules using age verification and opt-out systems. Celebrity endorsements would be banned, while betting promotions would disappear from stadiums and player uniforms.

Albanese says the approach is designed to reduce children’s exposure while keeping legal gambling available to adults. Communications Minister Anika Wells has framed the reforms as a way of weakening the link between sport and gambling.

Critics see a compromise that retreats from calls for a comprehensive advertising ban.

The government’s impact analysis says Australians lose more than $32 billion to gambling each year and estimates the wider annual social cost of wagering harm at $26.8 billion. It identifies advertising as an important force in normalizing gambling, particularly for younger people.

But the analysis also says a total advertising ban would carry substantial financial consequences for broadcasters, sporting bodies and media companies. Labor instead chose a model expected to cut wagering activity by about 0.8 per cent and deliver an estimated $107.1 million in annual net public benefit from reduced harm.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform says the government has waited too long to implement the Murphy inquiry’s 31 recommendations, including a national regulator and comprehensive advertising ban. Campaigners point to research suggesting about 600,000 Australians under 18 already gamble, spending roughly $18 million a year.

Crossbench MPs are also demanding stronger action. Independent MP Helen Haines has called Labor’s legislation “unconscionable,” while proposing tighter advertising restrictions, a national regulator and public reporting of harm indicators by gambling companies.

Senator David Pocock has called Labor’s approach “a tragedy,” arguing it falls short of public support for tougher controls.

Wilkie’s NACC referral now takes the dispute beyond arguments about what the legislation should contain. It asks whether the process behind the government’s policy warrants scrutiny too.

The commission does not have to investigate every referral, and Wilkie has stopped short of accusing any named person of criminal wrongdoing. But his intervention ensures questions about donations, lobbying, hospitality and relationships.

Featured image: Andrew Wilkie MP via X

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