‘Dodgy lotteries’ facing ban as Albanese moves to shut down new betting front

Australia’s booming online keno and offshore lottery industries will be killed off under Labor’s gambling clampdown, Communications Minister Anika Wells says, building on recommendations of an influential report that called for strict wagering rules.

After crossbench MPs attacked the government for failing to put a blanket ban on wagering advertising, Wells dismissed the teal group of independents as an irrelevance intent on “throwing stones from the sidelines” with “no skin in the game and no contribution to how to strike a balance”.

“Obviously, [there are] lots of moving parts and a lot of stakeholders with passionate views and loud voices,” Wells told this masthead, after Labor revealed a long-delayed policy on sports betting.

“[We] always needed to give a little to everyone – that is the reality. Our objective was always to actually land something that had the balance right. We were disciplined in pursuing an outcome, not just an appeasement.”

Wells’ fight with the crossbench underscores the emotional debate on gambling advertising kicked off by a 2023 report led by late Labor MP Peta Murphy. It called for a phase-out of all ads to reduce Australia’s unwanted reputation as a world leader in personal gambling losses.

Before the last election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shelved a proposal to limit advertising after pressure from TV and sports bosses worried about revenue, fuelling frustration among his backbenchers.

Some of Albanese’s colleagues felt the reform was dead in the water, particularly after Labor’s big election win diminished the importance of independents’ priorities that would have been key in a hung parliament, which was a live prospect during the campaign.

Albanese told colleagues last year he was not convinced of the case for change, believed the proposal would spur a backlash, and did not support a nanny-state prescription that would never have satisfied advocates who were ideologically opposed to gambling as a leisure activity.

But the prime minister made a surprise announcement last week, first reported by this masthead, to cap gambling ads on TV to three per hour, ban sports stars from promoting wagering, outlaw ads at stadiums and on jerseys, and stop online ads unless a platform could prove a user is over 18.

The advertising reforms fell short of the model put forward by Murphy’s report. One area in which Albanese and Wells went beyond Murphy’s recommendations was in online keno and offshore lotteries – newer types of gambling that were not contemplated by advocates when Murphy’s inquiry was under way.

The government will put forward new legislative requirements that it believes will likely lead to a ban on firms offering backdoor access to US-based $500 million lotteries. Companies offering the products have reacted with fury to Labor’s announcement, which left the sector confused about the precise nature of the new rules.

Wells, who was at the centre of a scandal on politicians’ expenses last year, argued the clampdown would protect “small businesses run by mums and dads, like newsagencies”, charities that provide lotteries, and legitimate Australian lotto businesses.

The Lottery Office, which sponsors the NRL’s Gold Coast Titans, is the main target. It is owned by David Railton Kennedy, who last year purchased a $24.5 million apartment, breaking the record for the most expensive flat ever sold in Queensland.

“Ordinary Australians have been buying traditional lotto tickets for years, not causing harm to anyone,” Wells said. “These dodgy lotteries threaten the honest dream of people winning the jackpot on a Thursday night.”

Online keno products that have grown rapidly in recent years will also be banned, Wells said. Keno providers have advertised their products as able to be played on a bus, in bed or while having a meal. Lottoland, which was prohibited from offering certain products in 2019, has re-emerged in Victoria to offer online keno. The well-established Lottery Corporation also offers online keno, but it only represents 3 per cent of its turnover.

Wells said: “Online keno is a grubby industry. It’s hard to see any redeeming features.”

It is not just teal MPs who criticised Labor’s gambling announcement. Liberal MP Simon Kennedy described the move as “underwhelming”, and independent senator David Pocock savaged it.

Wells previously claimed some politicians who had criticised the government while citing the legacy of Murphy, a respected Labor MP who died from cancer in 2023, were doing so insincerely.

“I chose not to bite back even when some tried to bait us publicly,” Wells said on Wednesday. “We had the backing of our caucus who trusted the PM and I to get it done. Instead of making public demands, they worked with us to deliver real reform.”

Rod Glover, Murphy’s widower who has advised Labor prime ministers and is well-connected in the cabinet, said last week that the gambling package was “not perfect, but policy rarely is”.

“This package represents a significant step forward on an issue the community cares deeply about, and I hope it is supported by all those in parliament and beyond,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Peta would be very proud of today’s progress.”

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