Minister's Words To Gambling Reform Advocate 'Shocking'.
Communications Minister Anika Wells is under fire from a host of supporters and crossbenchers for telling a former betting addict to encourage wagering companies about reforms, not her.
Kate Seselja overcame a pokies dependency that nearly resulted in her taking her own life.
Ms Seselja stated Ms Wells informed her throughout a meeting in August 2025 it was not the minister who required convincing about gambling reforms however the betting companies, television networks and sporting codes that produced profits from betting.
"I was flabbergasted," Ms Seselja told AAP.
"To be asked if I had tried to have meetings with them, as a lived experience advocate, was horrific.
"To have that level of disconnect to the reality of gambling harm faced by millions of Australians, to recommend that people with lived experience go satisfy with these predators, made me in the political system."
Fellow supporter Anna Bardsley from the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE), who also attended the conference, substantiated the exchange.
Ms Wells' workplace did not deny the remark was made, stating the minister welcomed the opportunity to consult with the 2 advocates to listen to their experience with gambling damage.
A spokesperson indicated Labor federal government measures including the intro of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a restriction on credit cards for online gambling and modifications to warning taglines after advertisements.
"The Australian government takes seriously our responsibility to secure Australians, especially young and susceptible individuals, from the harms of online gaming," the representative stated.
Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's remarks a betrayal of Australians experiencing betting harm, stating they were "stunning but regrettably not surprising".
"Being told to lobby the betting industry yourself, after a years of vigorous advocacy and almost losing your life to dependency, is an extensive failure of leadership," she stated.
Ms Seselja said personnel from the interaction minister's office told her to keep battling for reforms during a subsequent conference in March.
"I in fact 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 said.
"People are dying and no one is stopping the carnage."
Independent senator David Pocock explained Ms Seselja's recount as deeply unpleasant, while independent MP Monique Ryan assaulted the federal government for failing to take obligation for the issue or withstand vested interests.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief supporter Tim Costello branded the comments and inactiveness on the problem "a complete failure of federal government", including he was gobsmacked the federal government had not reacted to a betting harm report launched nearly 1000 days back.
The landmark report into gambling harm handed down in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy advised a phase-out of advertising, curbing temptations and an overarching national harm-reduction structure.