Michelle Rowland has a gambling (industry) problem

Rowland did indeed meet with gambling reformers on November 9 and 10, in what we are told were roughly 30-minute blocks, in groups, over Zoom. One participant described their meeting as “going through the motions”.

It was a far cry from the one-hour meeting scheduled at Sportsbet’s head office in Melbourne on July 22 last year, two months into Rowland’s time as minister (according to diary entries released under freedom of information). Or indeed the dinner at Sydney’s Rockpool paid for by Sportsbet to support her campaign; or for that matter, the lunch with gambling executives on her birthday last year, as first reported by this masthead last week.

Responsible Wagering Australia – which represents the likes of Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, and Bet365 – paid for the November lunch at Society restaurant, which boasts a 10,000 bottle cellar that it self-declares as one of the most “extensive and important lists in Australia” that’s heavy on the French labels.

We imagine listening to people making arguments that really, at their core, are about protecting profits, goes down better with a glass of Chablis.

This was not the first time Rowland’s assurances about taking in the views of gambling reformers turned out to not be completely as advertised.

In February, when she copped heat on Q&A for a story about taking $18,960 in donations from Sportsbet ahead of the 2022 federal election, she voiced similar assurances as at the National Press Club.

“I have met with the Gambling Reform Alliance and I had a very productive discussion about how they can fit into the regulatory regime and reform in this area,” Rowland told a questioner.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform is an important stakeholder. It is the only national peak body campaigning for reducing gambling harm, and its chief advocate is the high-profile patron saint of worthy causes Tim Costello.

So, all good? That is until you hear the bit that was omitted – the meeting was set up three days after the Sportsbet story broke, a week out from Q&A going to air, and occurred on the same day as filming. The Alliance had been asking for a meeting since she was sworn in about eight months earlier.

“I only realised later she was going on Q&A and saying yes, she’s met with us, ticking a box,” Costello says.

Presumably when some conscientious spinner in Rowland’s office tasked with preparing the Q&A briefing pack asked the diary manager: “Hey, which gambling reform advocates has the minister met with recently?” and likely got a blank stare in reply, the plan was hatched.

A politician once told us: once is a mistake, twice is a list for your opponents.

The multi-party parliamentary inquiry into gambling advertising – which Rowland herself commissioned – found the ads were “grooming children and young people to gamble and encourages riskier behaviour”.

“Online gambling has been deliberately and strategically marketed alongside sport, which has normalised it as a fun, harmless, and sociable activity that is part of a favourite pastime,” the final report said.

And if you’re wondering how the industry sees itself in the market, and who their main competitors are for revenue, just ask TopSport director Tristan Merlehan, who in September lamented on a sponsored podcast that taxes were too high and squeezing margins. This he said would ultimately mean punters lose their money quicker and decide to “go to the movies, take the family out to dinner” or “go the footy” or the “pub with my mates”. Gosh!

Bookmakers and their lobbyists are substantial sponsors of the major parties. AEC disclosures show in 2022-23, Sportsbet made $312,000 in payments, split almost evenly between Labor and the Coalition parties.

Tabcorp paid $115,000 to Labor and just over $100,000 to Coalition parties, according to its official AEC filings, and Responsible Wagering Australia paid more than $70,000 to Labor and $20,000 to the National Party.

Some payments were donations, while others were “subscriptions” to the parties’ corporate fundraising arms. The ALP’s is called the Federal Labor Business Forum, which for the right price will provide a certain number of one-on-ones with ministers each year and tickets to major political events.

Rowland’s Melbourne lunch was one of these forum events. So, too, was an intimate dinner hosted by Sportsbet at the National Press Club in February 2022 attended by Anthony Albanese and Sportsbet boss Barni Evans.

Australia’s largest bookmaker is a top-tier subscriber of the forum, and is believed to be paying $110,000 a year for the privilege.

Rowland says she “chose” to attend the lunch with RWA, but when Labor and the Coalition are selling annual access to MPs and ministers, you’ve really got to wonder how much of a choice they really have.

To be fair to Rowland, after the controversy over the $18,960 in Sportsbet donations broke in February, she committed to no longer taking donations or hospitality from gambling companies, and industry sources say getting paid access to her has become impossible. Some also suggest executives left the November lunch less than thrilled about the message conveyed.

But in politics, where being seen to do the right thing is just as important as actually doing it, Michelle Rowland has a gambling industry problem.

The recommendation from the Labor-led bipartisan committee is clear: ban all gambling advertising. And while that was always unlikely – no doubt Sportsbet would give you very good odds – anything less will now appear to be a victory for the industry’s lobbying efforts, and a terrible look for Labor.