Shaquille O’Neal’s meeting with Anthony Albanese to promote The Voice to Parliament was especially inappropriate given he was in Australia to support gambling which disproportionately impacts Aboriginal communities, according to Greens senator Lidia Thorpe.
The former NBA superstar, worth an estimated $400million, gave a press conference with Mr Albanese in Sydney on Saturday where he was supposed to back The Voice but instead mumbled a few words about God and loving Australia.
Senator Thorpe blasted O’Neal’s attempted promotion of The Voice given he is foreign and tied to the gambling industry, which badly affects Aboriginal communities in particular.
‘I mean he’s here for a speaking tour, good on him, and he’s also here for PointsBet which is about gambling, which is about destroying families,’ Ms Thorpe told radio 3AW radio on Monday.
‘He’s putting his nose into business that has nothing to do with him.
‘He does not understand what is going on in this country and he should not be commenting.’
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal (centre) is pictured with Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney (left) and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right)
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe (pictured) said it was inappropriate for O’Neal to promote the Voice given he is foreign and tied to the gambling industry, which badly affects Aboriginal communities in particular
O’Neal was in the country for meet-and-greets with fans, two of which were sponsored by asset management firm La Trobe Financial, and a charity basketball competition sponsored by Pointsbet.
Fans paid as much as $500 each to meet the LA Lakers legend at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on Thursday and The Star Sydney on Friday.
Although his meeting with the PM was free, an industry source said O’Neal would have made at least $200,000 from the weekend visit, based on comparable deals for shoots, meet-and-greets and Instagram posts.
‘He’s paid for himself this week because everyone finally knows who PointsBet is,’ the source said.
The 50-year-old American became an ambassador for the little-known Australian gambling company Pointsbet in January 2021, taking a stake in the businesses as part of the deal, and also represents US betting firm WynnBet.
He has featured in several Pointsbet TV adverts in Australia, including one where he bets online while having a massage, fixing a car, and playing golf.
Last year O’Neal boasted about betting $1million on an MMA fight and winning.
The former NBA superstar, worth an estimated $400million, is pictured meeting Big Brother winner Reggie Bird and her son while in Australia
O’Neal has featured in several Pointsbet TV adverts in Australia, including one where he bets online while having a massage, fixing a car, and playing golf
A paper published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, a government agency, found that gambling rates are much higher among Indigenous Australians than the wider population – especially on ‘pokies’ – and ‘problem gambling’ is also much more common.
The paper cited research which found up to one-fifth of Indigenous Australians have a problem with gambling.
Mr Albanese insisted O’Neal contacted him to discuss the proposal for The Voice, a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who would have a so-far undefined level of power to influence and alter proposed legislation that affects Indigenous people.
The prime minister wants to enshrine the body in the Constitution, which would require the passing of a referendum, possibly late next year.
Mr Albanese’s meeting with O’Neal has been blasted by all sides of politics, with many arguing it ‘cheapened’ the debate and was ‘patronising’ to voters.
But the prime minister dismissed criticism on Tuesday morning, telling critics to ‘chill out’.
‘He approached me and I think people should chill out a bit, basically. The fact is, that Shaq’s appearance meant that people are talking about it,’ he told radio 2SM.
‘And one of the things we need to do is to raise awareness in the community that this referendum is coming, that there’s a need for debate around it.
‘Shaq appeals to a whole bunch of people, many of whom would have been hearing about the Voice to Parliament for the very first time, and that’s a good thing.
‘So I make no apologies for saying I’ll engage with anyone, anywhere, anytime, about these issues. And anything we can do to raise the profile of this issue is a good thing.’
Last year O’Neal (pictured in a Pointsbet advert) boasted about betting $1million on an MMA fight and winning