THE LOBBYING LOOPHOLE: GAMBLING REFORMS SHOW WHO CANBERRA REALLY LISTENS TO

MEDIA RELEASE
2026.08.24

The passage of the Federal Government’s gambling reforms should force a broader question: when public demand collides with corporate money and political access, who gets heard in Canberra?

77 percent of Australians support a ban on gambling advertising, according to a national poll conducted for The Australia Institute. Support crossed voting lines, with majorities of Labor, Coalition, Greens, One Nation, independent and undecided voters backing a ban.

Yet the final reforms did not reflect the full strength of that public demand.

Punters Politics founder Konrad Benjamin said the gambling debate showed why lobbying reform could not be treated as a side issue.

“Australians are clear about what they want. But when an industry has money, lobbyists and access to ministers, public support can be watered down before it becomes law.

“That is the lobbying loophole. It is how Canberra ends up delivering the version that powerful industries can live with, rather than the version the public backed.”

The same question applies to the way Australia taxes its natural resources. A national poll found that 61 per cent of voters supported gas export companies paying a 25 percent gas export tax, with support as high as 75 per cent in some.

“The average Australian can’t hire lobbyists, buy access at political fundraisers or put former political insiders on the payroll. Big corporations can. That changes which ideas get heard, which reforms survive and who pays the bill.

“This isn’t some boring Canberra transparency issue. It affects your wallet.

“If gambling companies can influence gambling laws, and gas companies can influence resource tax policy, ordinary Australians deserve to know who is getting access to our politicians and what they are asking for.

“Before Canberra comes looking in the pockets of ordinary Australians for another dollar, how about collecting the billions we’re already leaving on the table?”

Konrad Benjamin will appear in a Four Corners episode about lobbying, airing today, Monday 24th August on the ABC.

“Ministers do not want us to know who they’re meeting with, where, when and why. If you want to attend, you pay. How can that ever be good for democracy?”

Benjamin said the test for politicians was simple:

“Follow the lobbying. Follow the access. Follow the money. Then look at the policy that comes out the other end.”

Media contact: oipunter@punterspolitics.com