An investigative exclusive in Australia has revealed 25% of the country’s politicians have gambling industry interests. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Major gambling interests

Independent investigative Australian news source Crikey has revealed over 25% of the country’s politicians have gambling industry interests.

The staggering revelation is based on uncontestable fact via publicly available declarations made by Australia’s 227 MPs and Senators themselves over the past five years. Since the May 2019 general election, politicians have accepted from the gambling industry “at least 299 gifts, including tickets to sporting events and shows.”

48 “current federal politicians have declared gambling largesse” since 2019

Breaking it down is transparency project Open Politics, which revealed 48 “current federal politicians have declared gambling largesse” since 2019. This means 21% of all federal politicians have accepted gifts, yet another 12 have declared “they or their families own or owned shares in gambling companies.”

The gift-takers and the shareholders combined means over 25% of the Australian Parliament has an interest in gambling.

Fun, games, gambling

According to Crikey, gambling firms have comped politicians and their families with entry and hospitality to Rugby Union internationals, the Melbourne Cup, Australian Football League and National Rugby League grand finals, and pricey musicals including Hamilton and Billy Elliott.

In total, almost one in three current Coalition MPs and one in five Labor MPs have accepted such gifts. Even this figure is on the conservative side, as gifts below $300, such as restaurant freebies, Christmas hampers, and alcohol do not need to be disclosed.

Endeavor Group gave Tehan a $70 bottle of Shiraz

The top freeloader is MP Dan Tehan. The Coalition Shadow Minister has accepted 31 sports tickets from both Australia gambling leader Tabcorp and Richmond Football Club. The former has comped-out 119 tickets and hospitality since 2019. Not to be outdone, gaming machine giant Endeavor Group gave Tehan a $70 bottle of Shiraz.

One above all others

The headline grabber is high profile Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s largesse. According to Crikey, Rowlands has accepted 27 tickets and hospitality from Tabcorp and The Star combined in the last five years, including family tickets to Hamilton.

Rowlands heads the government department for regulating iGaming and gambling advertising but “has not declared a gift from the gambling industry since November 2022.”

Rowland, who is working on developing a new gambling advertising code, was criticized in Parliament in 2023 for allegedly accepting donations from Sportsbet. She stated at the time that she has, and will, “continue to comply with the disclosure requirements.”

Open Politics’ was established by ex-ministerial adviser and public affairs consultant Sean Johnson to “increase public scrutiny of the private interests” of politicians. It maintains a database of the interests of all Australian parliamentarians, “including ongoing updates to reflect statement alterations.”

Besides the freeloaders, 12 politicians declared “they or their families own or owned shares in gambling companies.”

One politician who declared shares was independent MP Sophie Scamps. She later deleted her shares from the Open Politics register.