Australia Northern Territory politicians call for a ban on gambling operator gifts to regulators
The chair of the NT Racing and Wagering Commission has admitted attending the Darwin Cup as a guest of gambling companies.
Australia.- Northern Territory (NT) Greens MLA Kat McNamara is calling for a ban on gifts from gambling operators to members of Australia’s gambling regulators. McNamara said such gifts were “totally unacceptable” after Alastair Shields, chair of the NT Racing and Wagering Commission (NTRWC), admitted to ABC that he went to the Darwin Cup as a guest of bookmakers.
Shields said he had declared the invitations and complied with conflict-of-interest procedures. He defended the commission’s processes, but concerns have been raised by members of the NT Legislative Assembly.
Independent MLA Justine Davis backed McNamara’s call for tougher rules. She said: “Accepting gifts from the gambling sector sends the wrong message and raises real questions about the government’s ability to act in the public interest.”
McNamara also plans to propose the removal of the annual cap on bookmaker tax contributions, which currently limits payments to AU$1.41m (US$0.9m) per operator. She said: “We should absolutely be removing this cap and taxing these companies accordingly, so they pay their fair share.” Gambling companies have previously threatened to leave the state if taxes rise.
Racing minister Marie-Clare Boothby, who also accepted and declared gifts from bookmakers while shadow minister last year, has said that the NT government will consider reforming the gambling sector.
Meanwhile, an investigation conducted by Reuters claimed that between mid-2023 and early 2025, Australian politicians accepted about AU$245,000 (US$147,000) in match tickets from the country’s most popular sporting leagues as part of lobbying efforts against proposed legislation to ban online gambling ads.
The gifts are said to be part of a campaign by the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) to lobby politicians with messaging against an ad ban. They invited politicians to events and seated them close to sports body officials, mostly from the NRL and AFL, who were briefed on how to discuss the impact of a ban.
