NRL and AFL met Albanese, Rowland shortly before Labor shelved gambling curbs
A copy of the communications minister's diary obtained by Capital Brief shows the codes were among the last stakeholders to secure meetings before Labor shelved plans to restrict gambling ads.
Representatives of Australia’s two major sporting codes, the NRL and AFL, had the ear of the minister responsible for Labor’s plans to curb gambling advertising, as well as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, just weeks before the plans were shelved.
A copy of Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s diary, obtained by Capital Brief under freedom of information laws, shows the two footballing codes were among the last stakeholders to secure meetings with the minister in the final weeks before the government announced its decision.
Rowland and Albanese met with representatives of the NRL at 2:45pm on 22 October, before meeting with representatives of the AFL 45 minutes later, the documents show. The two meetings, along with a streaming roundtable, appear to be the last with gambling ad stakeholders in Rowland’s diary between 13 July and 13 November last year.
Labor ministers publicly confirmed on 25 November that the government would kick plans to curb gambling advertising into 2025, some 18 months after a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended the government adopt a total ban on gambling ads.
