Federal MPs accept free sport tickets from gambling companies amid calls to restrict wagering ads

At least six federal Labor and Liberal politicians, including an assistant minister and shadow ministers, have disclosed they accepted free tickets to lucrative sporting events from major gambling companies in the past six months, as the government faces calls to restrict wagering ads and better regulate the sector.

Anthony Chisholm, the assistant minister for regional development and agriculture, has declared twice in recent months taking tickets and hospitality from Tabcorp for major horse race meets in Victoria and Queensland. Sportsbet, Australia’s biggest online bookmaker, also provided tickets to rugby union, the Australian Open or race meets to the Labor MPs Raff Ciccone and Dan Repacholi, Coalition shadow ministers Dan Tehan and Tim Wilson, and Liberal MP Mary Aldred.

Politicians are required to disclose if they accept gifts or hospitality – such as free tickets to major events – in their parliamentary register of interests, which is available to view online. Dozens of federal parliamentarians have declared receiving free tickets to major events over the summer, including the Ashes cricket series, Australian Open tennis and large concerts.

More than 30 politicians have so far declared free tickets for cricket matches across the Australia v England Ashes series over summer, while at least 10 politicians declared receiving free tickets to the Australian Open, from various sources.

Gambling companies are among those having hosted federal politicians from the major parties recently. Chisholm declared Tabcorp had provided him with four tickets and hospitality on two occasions, once in November at Melbourne’s Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse, and then at the Gold Coast’s Magic Millions Race Day in January.

Sportsbet was listed as the provider of free tickets to five politicians in recent months. Wilson, the new shadow treasurer, disclosed the betting group as providing “attendance at Caulfield Guineas” race meet to himself and his spouse in Melbourne in November.

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Tehan, the shadow energy minister, disclosed Sportsbet had given “attendance for self and two guests” at the Australian Open men’s semi-final in January. Aldred declared Sportsbet had given her two tickets to the same tennis semi-final.

Ciccone, the Victorian senator and chair of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, declared he was a guest of Sportsbet at the Australian Open in January, with the betting agency providing “2 x ticket and hospitality”. Repacholi, the special envoy on men’s health, declared receiving four tickets and hospitality from Sportsbet to attend the Wallabies’ rugby union match against the British and Irish Lions in Sydney last August.

In a response, a Sportsbet spokesperson said the company made “significant contributions” to sports and racing, including through paying taxes and fees. The company said it was advocating for “meaningful, measured reform” in advertising, including frequency caps and banning ads in stadiums or on playing jerseys, and said it had reduced its own TV advertising.

“From time to time, like many businesses, we host stakeholders including elected representatives and their staff at major sporting and racing events,” the spokesperson said.

Tabcorp, and the politicians listed above, have been contacted for comment.

Tehan said he had been “officially invited” to the tennis due to his role co-chairing the Parliamentary Friends of Thoroughbred Racing group.

Kate Chaney, an independent MP among those pushing for gambling reforms, was critical of politicians accepting tickets from wagering companies.

“Sure, technically no rules have been broken, and these gifts have been declared. But it stinks,” she said. “Australians can see right through it – they want gambling reform but instead they get gambling companies wining and dining leaders at expensive sports events.

“Party politicians who accept ‘hospitality’ from these companies need to wake up and stop pretending that gambling companies give away free tickets to politicians because they’re nice guys.”

The federal government is coming under mounting pressure, including from inside its own partyroom, to outline its long-mooted gambling reforms and finalise its delayed response to the parliamentary report chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy which recommended a ban on wagering ads.

In other recent disclosures, a swathe of Labor MPs were gifted cricket tickets, including Ali France, David Moncrieff, Zhi Soon, Kara Cook and Varun Ghosh; Labor assistant ministers Ged Kearney, Matt Thistlethwaite and Chisholm; as well as Coalition members Zoe McKenzie, Ben Small, Matt Canavan, Aaron Violi, Andrew Willcox, Jason Wood, Pat Conaghan and James McGrath. All those tickets came via Cricket Australia. Minister Murray Watt declared tickets to two days of the Brisbane Test, one day from Cricket Australia and another day from lobbying firm Anacta.

The former opposition leader Sussan Ley declared tickets for the Sydney “pink” Test, where she attended the charity high tea for the McGrath Foundation, as did the health minister, Mark Butler, on behalf of the government.

Through the Australian Open, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, Labor assistant ministers Peter Khalil and Julian Hill and Nationals MPs Bridget McKenzie and Sam Birrell declared receiving tickets from Tennis Australia; independent MP Andrew Gee declared tickets from Emirates; while Kearney declared two tickets from liquor group Asahi.

Hill declared tickets and hospitality, for himself and his spouse, to the men’s semi-final; Khalil disclosed “2 tickets to The ‘O’”, the VIP lounge at the tournament, which he declared was “valued at approximately $1200 per person”.

Staying with tennis, the Labor minister Josh Wilson declared two tickets to Perth’s United Cup Tennis from Tennis Australia; colleague Tim Watts declared “2 x tickets to tennis match and hospitality” from both Tennis Australia and Nine Entertainment Co; and Liberal MP Henry Pike declared tickets and hospitality to the Brisbane International.

Albanese in November declared tickets to Oasis, from Venues NSW. Kearney also declared two tickets to Oasis, which she said were priced at $183 each and came courtesy of AFL House.

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