Gambling companies have poured cash into the major parties ahead of a crucial decision in federal parliament on whether to ban advertisements for online bets, intensifying a debate over the influence of money in politics.
The sector confirmed its position as a rising force in donations, with Sportsbet giving $203,000 to the two main parties last financial year, Tabcorp donating $161,150 and The Lottery Corporation contributing $98,130.
The gambling sector has confirmed its position as a rising force in donations.Credit: iStock
The support came as a parliamentary inquiry urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to ban advertisements for online bets because of the risk to children and gambling addicts, setting up a key decision for the government this year.
With gaming operations vital for many pubs and clubs, the two main parties also received $30,100 from Clubs Australia and $96,500 from ClubsNSW.
The Centre for Public Integrity, a non-profit group set up by former judges and anti-corruption experts, said gambling industry’s influence heightened concerns about the strength of the regime to regulate and disclose donations.
“Public power must be exercised in the public interest rather than in the interest of those with the means to buy access,” the centre’s executive director Catherine Williams said.
Special Minister of State Don Farrell is preparing changes to the donations regime after expressing concerns last year at the way wealthy people could fund political parties and campaigns, saying he wanted to “level the playing field”.
Current rules mean donations in the year to June 30 are not disclosed until the following February and those under $15,200 do not have to be disclosed, while there is no limit on the amount that can be donated or the volume of spending by parties and candidates. There is a ban on donations from overseas.
Melbourne Law School professor Joo-Cheong Tham, a director of the Centre for Public Integrity, said the system needed caps on donations, caps on campaign spending, democratic public funding and effective transparency.
“The underlying principle is political equality, where each member of the Australian community has an equal opportunity to influence politics regardless of their wealth,” he said.
Former Labor backbencher Peta Murphy led the eight-month inquiry into the $9.6 billion spent on online gambling each year and delivered its report to the government in June. Murphy restated her support for an advertising ban before she died in early December.
Albanese has praised Murphy for her work on the issue and spoken to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland several times about the policy decision, raising expectations it will be made in the coming months.
“We know that gambling does have a negative impact, particularly on lower-income earners. And it’s something that I’ve expressed my concern about,” the prime minister said on January 15.
A Sportsbet spokesperson said its 2022-23 donations were down more than a third on the year before.
“Sportsbet’s donations are disclosed in accordance with the law. These are solely for memberships of business forums, in which hundreds of companies across several sectors participate to discuss wide-ranging issues,” they said.
A Tabcorp spokesman noted its donations fell last financial year from $216,150 the previous year and said this showed the online gambling inquiry was not a factor in the distribution of its donations.
One factor in the gambling industry funding was the arrival of The Lottery Corporation in the sector after it was carved out of Tabcorp as a separate company to run Powerball, TattsLotto and other lotteries.
The company said the $98,130 in payments to the parties – its first year reporting these payments to the Australian Electoral Commission – reflected the money paid to attend political events.
“The Lottery Corporation does not make contributions to political parties outside of the membership fees for these forums and some additional events,” a company spokesman said.
An exclusive analysis of all federal donations by the Centre for Public Integrity shows there was $54.9 million in “dark money” flowing into political parties from sources that are kept secret.
The estimate is in line with conclusions from Transparency International Australia and the Australian Democracy Network and is found by checking donations, public funding, other receipts and financial earnings against total receipts to calculate the unexplained or “dark” funding.
Donations were higher in the previous financial year, ahead of the federal election in May 2022, when “dark money” was $91.3 million, according to the Centre for Public Integrity.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for a ban on gambling advertisements and Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman put forward a proposal last year to ban the promotions during broadcasts of live sport as well as an hour before and after a game. Labor voted against this idea in the Senate and it was rejected by 33 to 30 votes.
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