Minister's Words To Gambling Reform Advocate 'Shocking'.
Communications Minister Anika Wells is under fire from a host of supporters and crossbenchers for informing a previous gaming addict to encourage wagering business about reforms, not her.
Kate Seselja conquered a pokies dependency that almost led to her taking her own life.
Ms Seselja said Ms Wells told her throughout a conference in August 2025 it was not the who required convincing about betting reforms but the betting business, tv networks and sporting codes that created income from betting.
"I was flabbergasted," Ms Seselja told AAP.
"To be asked if I had tried to have conferences with them, as a lived experience advocate, was horrific.
"To have that level of disconnect to the reality of betting harm dealt with by millions of Australians, to suggest that individuals with lived experience go satisfy with these predators, made me lose belief in the political system."
Fellow advocate Anna Bardsley from the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE), who also participated in the meeting, supported the exchange.
Ms Wells' workplace did not reject the remark was made, stating the minister invited the chance to fulfill with the 2 advocates to listen to their experience with gambling harm.
A representative indicated Labor federal government steps consisting of the introduction of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a ban on charge card for online betting and changes to warning taglines after ads.
"The Australian federal government takes seriously our responsibility to secure Australians, especially young and susceptible individuals, from the damages of online gaming," the spokesperson stated.
Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's comments a betrayal of Australians experiencing gambling harm, saying they were "stunning however sadly not surprising".
"Being informed to lobby the gambling industry yourself, after a decade of tireless advocacy and nearly losing your life to dependency, is a profound failure of leadership," she stated.
Ms Seselja said staff from the communication minister's office informed her to keep defending reforms during a subsequent conference in March.
"I really broke down and lost it at the staffer, because I stated to her, if you're not going to do your job, then resource GHLEE to do it," Ms Seselja stated.
"People are passing away and nobody is stopping the carnage."
Independent senator David Pocock explained Ms Seselja's recount as deeply troubling, while independent MP Monique Ryan assaulted the government for failing to take responsibility for the problem or withstand vested interests.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief supporter Tim Costello branded the remarks and inactiveness on the problem "a total failure of government", including he was gobsmacked the federal government had actually not reacted to a betting damage report launched almost 1000 days earlier.
The landmark report into betting damage handed down in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended a phase-out of advertising, curbing incentives and an overarching national harm-reduction framework.