You can bet on it
Last month, as part of our Punted series on gambling advertising reform, we told you about the federal government’s obsessive secrecy when it comes to its dealings with the industry.
At the time of our initial reporting, documents obtained under freedom of information laws had already made clear that Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and her staff had taken meetings with stakeholders including the AFL, NRL, Sportsbet, Crown, Betfair, PointsBet, Tabcorp, Channel Nine, Channel Seven, Foxtel, Commercial Radio Australia, SBS and Free TV in the period up to December last year. A subsequent leak to the Nine papers revealed several stakeholders were informed of the government’s plans around gambling ad reform before those plans were taken to cabinet.
We were curious what other meetings had taken place since the beginning of the year, and lodged a freedom of information request asking for “Any communications between representatives of gambling firms, or lobbyists working on their behalf, and Minister Rowland’s office between December 11, 2023 and July 15, 2024”. The documents we were supplied with revealed Rowland’s staff had communicated with firms including Betr, the Lottery Corporation, and Sportsbet.
The emails back and forth happened in the context of the federal government’s efforts to consult with stakeholders and respond to last year’s online gambling inquiry, a response that will be released “in due course”, according to a spokesperson for Rowland.
Sportsbet’s overtures to the minister’s office included a plea in March for “30 mins of your time” to “discuss Sportsbet’s view on a number of recommendations of the Online Gambling Inquiry”. A meeting was scheduled for March 26.
Sportsbet was at it again in June, asking for a meeting with a staffer in Rowland’s office and another in Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth’s team. Sportsbet wanted to brief the staffers on “some up-to-date data we have on the advertising market and some other matters relevant to the inquiry”. An online video meeting was arranged for June 20.
Betr asked in May for a “quick catch up … on online wagering matters”. A staffer for Rowland agreed to an online meeting on June 18. Then, on July 5, Betr asked for another meeting “to have that discussion about the customer-facing items we foreshadowed when last we met”. A Rowland staffer said they would give the Betr representative a call on July 10.
And finally, there was the Lottery Corporation, which reached out on July 5, seemingly just to tell the minister’s office its head of government relations was going overseas for a few weeks. A ministerial staffer replied wishing the person a “great trip”, to which they responded: “I will — much warmer parts of the world await. Chat when I return.”
Pay for BoJo
As CBD noted earlier this week, fans of calamitous political leadership (who somehow don’t get enough of that from our own crop of politicians) are getting an early Christmas present, as the big bumbling boy of Western civilisation himself, Boris Johnson, hits our shores in a tour promoted by celebrity agent Max Markson. CBD claimed attendees will be forking out up to $10,000 per table, which will also get them a signed copy of Johnson’s new memoir Unleashed as well as a photo with the man of the hour*.
We asked Markson about the event, and he did not hold back in his praise for Johnson: “I have been extremely fortunate to work with Nelson Mandela, President [Bill] Clinton and Tony Blair amongst others in the last few years and I believe that Boris Johnson is one of the most exceptional, engaging and entertaining speakers in the world.” From the long walk to freedom to Operation Save Big Dog.
“I am looking forward to hosting both events in Sydney and Melbourne with several high profile politicians,” Markson said, adding that former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morison would all be on the guest list, “as well as Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton and Josh Frydenberg and Julie Bishop”.
Markson added that he also “hoped” to welcome Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Labor predecessors Paul Keating, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, perhaps acknowledging it’s a slightly tougher sell for that side of the aisle.
*Markson denied the CBD figures, telling us the tables for the event start at a comparatively modest $2,950 but that he couldn’t reveal “yet” what the higher-end options would set people back.
Leunig feeling a bit Freier
After drawing enough final straws with his employers at Nine to build a sturdy hut, cartoonist Michael Leunig was conclusively axed by The Age earlier this month.
It appears Leunig has now booked his first post-Age gig, attending a conversation with Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier in early October.
“Why are we reluctant to discuss spiritual matters?” the pair will ask, in an event headed “Is our society allergic to God?” We’d argue that, what with one thing and another, God has featured pretty heavily in Australia’s public square in the past decade. Regardless it will be interesting to see if Leunig’s departure from the paper is addressed.
If we learnt anything from the marriage equality debate, it’s that he never shies away from making big issues all about his own feelings.
