As Canberra mulls a gambling ban, the capital has been full of heavyweight gambling lobbying this week. Big media companies have been working on the politicians, and both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton set time aside for meetings with Tim Costello — chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform — on the question of how far the government should go with restricting gambling advertising.

The answer was partially provided by Sportsbet’s Dublin-based parent company Flutter Entertainment, which released its first-half result late yesterday and disclosed it had cranked up its Australian advertising in the six months to June 30 through an “additional marketing spend of £10 million [A$19.5 million] to defend our leadership position”.

The results show that Sportsbet’s average monthly players in Australia had increased by 7% in the first half of 2023 to a record 1.066 million people — who collectively lost A$1.17 billion in just six months. In annualised terms, that means 1.066 million Australians are losing $2.34 billion, or some $2200 each, each year to Sportsbet.