Minister's Words To Gambling Reform Advocate 'Stunning'.
Communications Minister Anika Wells is under fire from a host of supporters and crossbenchers for informing a previous gaming addict to persuade wagering companies about reforms, not her.
Kate Seselja overcame a pokies addiction that practically resulted in her taking her own life.
Ms Seselja stated Ms Wells told her throughout a meeting in August 2025 it was not the minister who about betting reforms but the betting business, tv networks and sporting codes that generated income from gambling.
"I was flabbergasted," Ms Seselja informed AAP.
"To be asked if I had actually attempted to have meetings with them, as a lived experience advocate, was dreadful.
"To have that level of detach to the reality of gambling harm dealt with by countless Australians, to recommend that people 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 likewise went to the conference, corroborated the exchange.
Ms Wells' workplace did not reject the comment was made, saying the minister welcomed the opportunity to meet the two supporters to listen to their experience with gambling harm.
A representative pointed to Labor government measures consisting of the introduction of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a restriction on credit cards for online gaming and changes to cautioning taglines after ads.
"The Australian federal government takes seriously our obligation to protect Australians, particularly young and susceptible people, from the harms of online betting," the representative said.
Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's remarks a betrayal of Australians experiencing betting harm, stating they were "stunning however unfortunately not unexpected".
"Being told to lobby the gaming market yourself, after a years of vigorous advocacy and almost losing your life to addiction, is a profound failure of leadership," she stated.
Ms Seselja stated staff from the interaction minister's workplace informed her to keep battling for reforms throughout a subsequent conference in March.
"I actually broke down and lost it at the staffer, since I said 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 unpleasant, while independent MP Monique Ryan attacked the federal government for stopping working to take obligation for the issue or stand up to vested interests.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello branded the remarks and inaction on the problem "a complete failure of federal government", adding he was gobsmacked the federal government had not responded to a betting damage report launched practically 1000 days earlier.
The landmark report into betting damage bied far in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended a phase-out of advertising, suppressing temptations and an overarching nationwide harm-reduction framework.