According to Reuters calculations, which depend on government documents, the most specific sporting leagues in Australia provided politicians with roughly A$245,000 ($147,000) in match tickets for almost two years in support of a lobbying campaign over a proposed ban on online gambling advertising.
The media has previously reported on the gambling industry's lobbying campaigns over the ban. Still, the legislative gift register's computation of the total worth of tickets disclosed by legislators indicates the role of sporting companies and offers a monetary figure for the first time.
The Gambling Ad Ban Delayed
Following a 2023 government reveal that indicates an "extensive ban on all forms of promotion and advertising for online gambling," Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to crack down on gambling advertising.
However, he eliminated the matter from the legislative agenda regarding the end of last year, displacing it to be addressed by a new parliament that will be discovered despite a general election on May 3 that his party is anticipated to win by a slim majority. Polls indicate that three-quarters of Australians support a ban.
"It is shocking that 18 months despite the landmark report into online gambling harm, and a full term of a Labour government, the prime minister has been unable to take any significant action to ban gambling advertising."
In Australia, lobbying of this type is authorized, but lawmakers who receive gifts in the range of A$300 must report them to the prime minister's office, which maintains a public database called the Parliamentary Gift Register.
It declares that between June 28, 2023, when the government report indicated banning online gambling ads, and March 28, this year, when parliament ended its session, 312 free tickets were provided to politicians from Australia's major parties.
Ticket Gifts Raise Eyebrows
The opposition leader and the PM provided tickets. The gift registry supplied Albanese with A$29,000 worth of tickets for games and grand finals for his NRL home team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Although COVID-19 shutdowns at the time impacted sports attendance, the tickets provided to politicians throughout the 21-month period were worth an anticipated A$234,000 throughout the prior parliamentary term, which ranges from 2019 to 2022. Prior to 2019, no information was accessible.
Government data demonstrated that Australians lose the overall money per capita when they gamble worldwide. Consulting firm H2 Gambling Capital indicated that Australian gamblers are projected to lose A$34 billion by 2025.
Gambling Funds Growing Rapidly
Since the submission has not been created public, the source selected is not to be named. Based on the source, the percentage cut is the NRL's fastest-developing revenue stream despite increasing fifteen times in ten years, despite making up a minimum percentage of its A$745 million total revenue in 2024.
According to the source, sports gambling advertising accounts for around one-third of the NRL's annual income of A$400 million, which is its primary source of income from broadcast rights.
COMPPS members presented politicians to events and gave them seats with sports body representatives, mainly from the NRL and AFL, who were trained to discuss the impact of the advertising ban.
Curtin University public health professor Louis Francis claimed that the outcome of gambling improvements stalling despite essential public support was evidence of the "friendships and connections" that sporting companies could develop by bringing politicians to games.
"A less price to offer to get access to political decision-makers," she claimed, referring to the free tickets provided to politicians. "And the return is amazing."