It has come to light that Australian lawmakers accepted gifts of sporting event tickets worth AU$245,000 (US$156,000) from sports leagues while considering a ban on gambling advertising.
Reuters analyzed the parliamentary gift register and attached a monetary value to the gifts. Politicians from both of the main parties received a total of 312 complimentary tickets between June 2023 and March 2025.
One of the recipients was current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who at one time had strongly pushed for the advertising ban that he subsequently backed away from last year. His tickets totaled AU$29,000 (US$18,000), with the leader of the opposition coalition Peter Dutton taking AU$21,350 (US$13,591) in tickets.
a country where gambling losses per capita are the highest in the world
A report outlined the significant harm that the marketing messages were having on people in a country where gambling losses per capita are the highest in the world. The government that wins next month’s general election will consider the legislation; polls suggest that most people in the country want a ban.
Australian sports leagues rely heavily on gambling-related advertising and sponsorship. The NRL’s gambling-related revenue, for example, is about AU$70m (US$44.5m) annually, which would halve if a ban came into effect.
