{"id":845581,"date":"2026-08-06T12:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T12:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/845581\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T12:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T12:28:17","slug":"labor-faces-fierce-backlash-from-gambling-giants-as-coalition-and-greens-push-for-new-controls-on-inducements-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/845581\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor faces fierce backlash from gambling giants as Coalition and Greens push for new controls on inducements | Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labor will face strong opposition from gambling giants if it accedes to Coalition and Greens demands for a tough new ban on financial inducements for betting, part of closely watched Senate dealmaking<\/a> expected within days.<\/p>\n

Despite reports on Thursday that the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, could insist Labor\u2019s bill to limit advertising for online sports betting be passed in full or be withdrawn, the communications minister, Anika Wells, insisted she was prepared to negotiate.<\/p>\n

After a two-day inquiry including sensational evidence that gambling companies allegedly provided illegal drugs and access to sex workers to keep problem gamblers betting, Wells is waiting on amendments from the Coalition, due to be finalised in party room meetings next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having constructive discussions,\u201d Wells said on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019ll continue to do that with my counterparts. We\u2019d love to see this pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would wait for the Coalition to form a position and to put those amendments to the government, exactly as this process always plays out when we try to put any piece of legislation through the Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debate on the bill was supercharged by sensational evidence from former NRL player Luke Bateman and veteran anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello this week.<\/p>\n

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They alleged problem gamblers had been supplied with cocaine, alcohol and sex workers<\/a>, part of efforts from gambling company VIP managers to keep big-spending punters betting as long as possible.<\/p>\n

Betting giants who appeared before the inquiry<\/a> at a later session said there was no evidence to support the allegations.<\/p>\n

Opponents of Labor\u2019s bill have pointed to a landmark inquiry report delivered by the late MP Peta Murphy in June 2023.<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s committee recommended the government \u201cprohibit all online gambling inducements and inducement advertising, and that it do so without delay\u201d.<\/p>\n

Separately last month, Labor\u2019s national conference agreed to explore how to better prevent online gaming and social media platforms from offering \u201cembedded inducements\u201d within video games and social media accounts designed to incentivise and normalise gambling among children and young people.<\/p>\n

The Labor backbencher Jerome Laxale on Thursday challenged the opposition to bring forward constructive amendments to advance a ban on the financial incentives offered to punters.<\/p>\n

He said he would welcome Labor\u2019s draft laws \u201cbeing strengthened in the Senate\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The acting opposition leader, Jane Hume, said the shadow communications minister, Sarah Henderson, was negotiating for new controls over inducements, suggesting gambling companies were using them to \u201cessentially entice people to maintain their problem gambling addiction\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that these laws are actually delivering on their purpose, that they find the balance between what is a legal pastime, but making sure that we protect the most vulnerable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The chief executive of lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, Kai Cantwell, said further bans on inducements were a non-starter for the gambling industry, drawing a distinction between inducements and \u201cpromotions\u201d.<\/p>\n

He accused members of the Senate committee considering Labor\u2019s bill of mistakenly grouping together appropriate promotions and illegal inducements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are about product differentiation and customer loyalty,\u201d he told ABC radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide personalised services to the entire customer base. That is the benefit of account-based gambling. We understand our customers\u2019 betting trends and patterns and can provide tailored consumer protections to our customer base as well, based on trends of betting and potential risk factors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labor MPs including Louise Miller-Frost and Alicia Payne told Guardian Australia this week that the draft legislation should be significantly strengthened<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labor will face strong opposition from gambling giants if it accedes to Coalition and Greens demands for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-845581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}