Donations from gambling companies linked to horse betting to the Labor and Liberal parties have surged dramatically over the past decade, skyrocketing from $66,650 in 2013-2014 to a staggering $488,000 in 2022-2023—an increase of more than 600%.
Method
A search of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) Transparency Register was conducted by the Parliamentary Library, with results provided to Senator Faruqi’s office.
The data presented in Table 1 is derived from incoming payments made by racing organisations and sports linked to horse racing and horse racing betting companies, as well as entities involved in both sports and horse racing betting, gaming (including pokies), and lotteries. Contributions from casinos (which derive some revenue from sports and race betting) and lottery-exclusive companies have been excluded from this analysis.
The search included the following companies linked to horse betting (refer to Appendix 1 for full list):
- Australian Racing Board
- Sportsbet
- Tabcorp
- Responsible Wagering Australia (formerly known as Australian Wagering Council)
- Victoria Racing Club
| Year by donor | Labor | Liberal | Nationals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 36,650 | 30,000 | 0 | 66,650 |
| Australian Wagering Council | 30,150 | 30,150 | ||
| Sportsbet | 2,500 | 2,500 | ||
| Tabcorp Holdings | 30,000 | 30,000 | ||
| Tatts Group | 4,000 | 4,000 | ||
| 2014-15 | 56,450 | 25,000 | 0 | 81,450 |
| Australian Wagering Council | 20,450 | 20,450 | ||
| Tabcorp Holdings | 25,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 | |
| Tatts Group | 11,000 | 11,000 | ||
| 2015-16 | 117,268 | 45,000 | 0 | 162,268 |
| Sportsbet | 35,000 | 15,000 | 50,000 | |
| Tabcorp Holdings | 52,500 | 30,000 | 82,500 | |
| Tatts Group | 29,768 | 29,768 | ||
| 2016-17 | 200,250 | 90,000 | 22,000 | 312,250 |
| Australian Wagering Council | 27,500 | 27,500 | ||
| Responsible Wagering Australia | 55,000 | 60,000 | 115,000 | |
| Sportsbet | 33,000 | 33,000 | ||
| Tabcorp Holdings | 82,750 | 30,000 | 22,000 | 134,750 |
| Tatts Group | 2,000 | 2,000 | ||
| 2017-18 | 169,200 | 30,000 | 23,300 | 222,500 |
| Melbourne Racing Club | 14,000 | 14,000 | ||
| Sportsbet | 49,500 | 49,500 | ||
| Tabcorp Holdings | 90,700 | 30,000 | 23,300 | 144,000 |
| Tatts Group | 15,000 | 15,000 | ||
| 2018-19 | 122,500 | 142,500 | 22,000 | 287,000 |
| BetEasy | 27,500 | 27,500 | ||
| Responsible Wagering Australia | 35,500 | 85,000 | 120,500 | |
| Sportsbet | 49,500 | 49,500 | ||
| Tabcorp Holdings | 37,500 | 30,000 | 22,000 | 89,500 |
| 2019-20 | 61,000 | 140,000 | 22,000 | 223,000 |
| BetEasy | 27,500 | 27,500 | ||
| Responsible Wagering Australia | 55,000 | 55,000 | ||
| Sportsbet | 27,500 | 27,500 | ||
| Tabcorp Holdings | 61,000 | 30,000 | 22,000 | 113,000 |
| 2020-21 | 136,420 | 142,500 | 22,000 | 300,920 |
| Responsible Wagering Australia | 19,320 | 19,320 | ||
| Sportsbet | 55,000 | 112,500 | 167,500 | |
| Tabcorp Holdings | 62,100 | 30,000 | 22,000 | 114,100 |
| 2021-22 | 293,695 | 192,500 | 75,000 | 561,195 |
| Responsible Wagering Australia | 82,000 | 77,500 | 20,000 | 179,500 |
| Sportsbet | 122,550 | 85,000 | 33,000 | 240,550 |
| Tabcorp Holdings | 89,145 | 30,000 | 22,000 | 141,145 |
| 2022-23 | 296,000 | 115,000 | 77,000 | 488,000 |
| Responsible Wagering Australia | 115,000 | 25,000 | 22,000 | 162,000 |
| Sportsbet | 110,000 | 60,000 | 33,000 | 203,000 |
| Tabcorp Holdings | 66,000 | 30,000 | 22,000 | 118,000 |
| Thoroughbred Breeders Australia | 5,000 | 5,000 | ||
| Grand Total | 1,489,433 | 952,500 | 263,300 | 2,705,233 |
Graph 1: Gambling donations by political parties (2013/14 – 2022/23)
Key Findings
The donation figures, provided by the Parliamentary Library, show that donations have skyrocketed over the last decade from 2013-2023.
Donations from gambling companies involved in horse racing betting to the Labor and Liberal parties have surged dramatically over the past decade, skyrocketing from $66,650 in 2013-2014 to a staggering $488,000 in 2023-2024—a 7 fold increase (more than 600%).
Tabcorp Holdings have made the most significant donations to the major political parties in a ten year period from 2013-2023, totalling over $1 million.
Industry peak bodies like Responsible Wagering Australia (formally known as Australian Wagering Council) have also made significant contributions to both the major parties in that 10 year period totalling $729,420, including a massive $179,500 in 2021-2022.
The total donations over this 2013-2023 period amounted to $2.7 million with Labor being by far the largest recipient of gambling donations linked to horse betting at $1.5 million, the Liberal party at $952,500.
Donations to Labor more than doubled (went up 115%) from $136,420 in 2020-2021 to $293,695 in 2021-2022 – ahead of the 2022 federal election, and have remained consistently high during Labor’s first term in government.
Attitudes towards horse racing
Nationally-representative independent polling conducted by Lonergan Research for the Greens found from 2021 – 2024 half to two-thirds of respondents agreed that racing animals like horses and greyhounds for gambling and entertainment is cruel:
- 2021: 55%
- 2022: 50%
- 2023: 64%
- 2024: 60%
In 2024, when asked a specific question about banning commercial horse racing almost half (49%) of respondents agreed that commercial horse racing should be banned altogether (with more than a quarter strongly agreeing – 26%).
Attitudes towards the Melbourne Cup
In 2023, publicly available data shows there was a combined total of 62% of those polled had ‘low’ or ‘no’ interest in the Melbourne Cup. This was up 10% from 2022. Additionally, those with a ‘high interest’ in the Melbourne Cup dropped from 15% in 2022 to 11% in 2023.
In the same poll, 41% of respondents said they were not interested in the Melbourne Cup and would not place a bet. This was up from 34% from 2022.
Research conducted by the Parliamentary Library saw a 46% decline in the commercial television audience for the Melbourne Cup from 2013 with 2,168,000 people viewing the race compared to 1,168,000 in 2023. These figures do not include out-of-home viewing.
Quotes attributable to Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
“If you want to know why Labor has done nothing to address the scourge of gambling or the cruelty of horse racing here you have it in hard numbers. They’re getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in blood money donations from horse betting companies.
“Labor and the Liberals work for their donors and lobby groups. They don’t care about the pain that gambling causes to so many in this country. They don’t care that a horse gets killed every two days on race tracks in this anachronistic, grotesque festival of cruelty. All they care about is lining their pockets with donations from the gambling industry.
“While more and more people switch off from this gambling-fuelled animal cruelty, the immoral industry makes sure they bankroll the major political parties to buy their silence.
“It’s time to shut down horse racing once and for all, ban gambling ads and ban dirty donations from gambling companies.”
Appendix 1 – full list of companies linked to horse racing who made political donations
- Primarily racing companies and organisations
- Albion Park Harness Racing Club
- Australian Racing Board
- Canberra Racing Club
- Centre Racing
- Melbourne Racing Club
- NSW Thoroughbred Racing Board
- Thoroughbred Breeders Australia
- Victoria Racing Club
- Primarily sports and horse racing betting companies and organisations
- Responsible Wagering Australia (formerly known as Australian Wagering Council)
- BetEasy
- Sportsbet
- Combination of sports and horse racing betting, gambling (including pokies) and lottery
- Tabcorp
- Tattersalls
- Tatts Group