{"id":777003145,"date":"2023-03-09T14:14:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T17:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777003145"},"modified":"2023-03-09T14:14:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T17:14:18","slug":"australia-gambling-industry-criticised-for-giving-free-tickets-to-politicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/australia-gambling-industry-criticised-for-giving-free-tickets-to-politicians","title":{"rendered":"Australia: gambling industry criticised for giving free tickets to politicians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A report has revealed that federal politicians received free event tickets from the gaming industry, which could be perceived as a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- An analysis of parliamentary interest registers by transparency organisation Open Politics has revealed that Australian federal politicians<\/strong> have received at least 151 free tickets to events and hospitality from the gambling industry <\/strong>since the 2019 election. Transparency advocates have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the report, 47 sitting MPs<\/strong> \u2013 over 20 per cent of parliament \u2013 and 10 former MPs have declared gifts, hospitality and shareholdings related to the gambling industry since April 2019. The majority of gifts have been provided by Tabcorp, while Sportsbet, Star Entertainment, Australian Hotels Association, and ClubsNSW have also given gifts to politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there is no indication that the gifts have influenced decision-making in government or opposition, transparency advocates are concerned about the perception of conflicts of interest. The report found that communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has accepted 10 free tickets for herself and others since coming to office. She accepted two tickets from Star Entertainment to see the musical Hamilton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rowland has already been heavily criticised before for accepting donations from Sportsbet<\/a> before the 2022 federal election. Last month she announced that she would no longer accept political donations from gambling companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n