The Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL) were reportedly among the last groups to score meetings with the prime minister before his party decided to put plans to restrict gambling ads on ice.
Under freedom of information laws, Capital Brief got a peek at Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s diary. It revealed that the AFL and NRL met with Rowland and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on October 22. According to the outlet, it was the last meeting between the gambling stakeholders between July and November last year.
On November 25, Labor ministers announced that the government would push plans to rein in gambling advertising all the way to 2025. This comes about 18 months after a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry, led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, recommended a total ban on gambling ads.
This isn’t the first time the codes have been accused of lobbying the prime minister and Rowland. In October, the Australian Financial Review reported that documents tabled in the Senate showed the NRL and AFL approached the pair to argue against Labor’s gambling reforms.
Criticism of football codes’ attitudes to gambling
Writing for the Guardian in September, Tim Costello, a member of the National Advisory Body on Gambling, stated: “My fear, after meeting with the prime minister, is that Albanese is like a parochial football fan. He appears to only see what he wants to see. He only appears to believe in the evidence that he is hearing from the gambling lobby, the big sporting codes and the broadcasters.
“It is time for the prime minister to listen to Australians and not the likes of the AFL and the NRL or the betting industry, with their obscene salaries.”
This year, let’s push the government to ban inducements and stop exploitation, as Peta Murphy’s inquiry recommends.
💪 Let’s make reform happen: https://t.co/okDTU11YVI#BanInducements #GamblingReform
— Alliance for Gambling Reform (@ReformGambling) January 3, 2025
In August, ReadWrite covered how some big names in Australia called on the government to ban all gambling ads within three years. They signed an open letter, which included over 60 signatures from notable figures like former prime ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull.
Before the decision, we also reported that roughly one in three Australians had placed bets on sporting events.
ReadWrite has reached out to the NRL and AFL for comment.
Featured image: Canva / Australian Government / Commonwealth of Australia