Operators donate more than A$450,000 to Australian political parties

Several gambling companies have been named as major donors to Australia’s three main political parties, following the latest data release from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

According to financial disclosures from the AEC, Tabcorp, Sportsbet, Entain and The Lottery Corporation made significant contributions to the likes of Labor, the Liberal Party and the Nationals over the last financial year. 

The transparency report includes all donations made to political parties Down Under for 2023-24, with an election due to be held in the country by at least May.

Tabcorp donated a combined total of A$193,093 over the course of 2023-24, the largest amount of any operator, with A$60,500 given to the Labor Party alone.

Tabcorp also pledged A$25,000 to the Nationals in October 2023. The operator made various donations to the parties at a state level, including A$13,000 to the Liberals New South Wales division.

Sportsbet contributed A$163,000 to multiple parties, with A$88,000 going towards the Labor Party’s efforts, A$15,000 for the Nationals, alongside a further A$60,000 for the Liberal Party.

The Labor Party, currently in government, received a further A$44,000 from The Lottery Corporation, with the business donating A$115,000 in total to the three parties.

Elsewhere, Ladbrokes and Neds parent Entain donated A$30,000 to the Liberals and A$11,000 to Labor’s Queensland branch.

Industry trade body Responsible Wagering Australia donated $37,500 to the Liberal Party and A$66,000 to Labor as part of a combined A$118,500 donation.

Overall, the Labor Party received $15m in donations from multiple industries as well as individual donors, while the Liberals amassed A$11.1m, both topping the Nationals total of A$2.5m.

In the past, the amount of money donated to political parties by the gambling industry has been a source of contention in Australia, with data from October 2021 revealing that more than A$80m had been made in political donations from the sector in the last 20 years. 

There is no suggestion the 2023-24 donations from operators are untoward.

Sports betting reform has also been widely debated across Australia as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces increasing pressure to implement measures recommended by the late Peta Murphy in 2023, which include a blanket ban on all gambling ads across television and online. 

Last year, the Albanese government revealed it was instead considering a cap system, which would see no more than two ads per hour until 10pm, but that proposal was met with significant backlash. 

Earlier this month, New South Wales announced that all gambling ads on public transport would be banned, but Australia is still no closer to any sort of update on a similar rule for TV and online marketing restrictions. 

Speaking last week during an analyst call following release of PointsBet’s H1 results, CEO Sam Swanell explained how he doesn’t expect any sort of regulatory change until after Australia’s next general election.

“It probably does seem less likely now that anything is going to happen in the shorter term; let’s call it pre-election [and] post-election type considerations,” Swanell explained.  

“We continue to, and so does the industry, put forward logical solutions. I think we called out again today in our briefing, obviously, that there are logical solutions there.” 

EGR has contacted the above operators for comment.