Australia’s online bookmakers are regulated by a small group of people in the Northern Territory – some with direct links to gambling. Ahead of the federal election, the ABC investigates why the territory has been left with this responsibility despite unfulfilled promises of reform by the Albanese government.
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00:00In this Darwin office block, six people oversee an industry worth tens of billions of dollars.
00:13Mostly career anti-public servants, they regulate Australia's gambling behemoths.
00:19If America's blind spot is guns, ours is gambling.
00:23The rest of the world look at us and say, it is the wild west, it is totally out of control.
00:29Meeting once a month, the NT Racing and Wagering Commission is in charge of scrutinising 36 corporate bookmakers,
00:37including giants like Ladbrokes, Bet365 and Sportsbet,
00:42who've based themselves in the territory for its low fees and taxes.
00:47Bookies will always go to the place where the regulation is weakest.
00:52After putting himself on a self-exclusion register while battling an online gambling addiction,
00:57Mark Kempster was still pestered by NT-based bookmakers and subsequently made complaints to the commission.
01:05I would be waiting weeks and months sometimes to get feedback or to find out what's happening with my case.
01:10Like, they are such a small fish and they're not prepared and have the right resources to actually undertake the regulation of a whole national industry.
01:21The commission's chair disputes that.
01:24We are working through a bit of a backlog at the moment, but we're confident that we have that under control.
01:30Despite its crucial role regulating online gambling, several of the commission's members have links to the industry.
01:38Scott Perrin is the former chief executive of Racing Victoria's television network Racing.com.
01:45Ian Curnow last year held chairs in racehorse Talima.
01:49And Talima will lead all the way, Talima.
01:51And Alistair Shields, chair of the commission, has received hospitality gifts from industry insiders.
01:58So you do take gifts from corporate bookmakers at things like the Darwin Cup or not?
02:04I have in the past attended the Darwin Cup as a guest.
02:07Of bookmakers?
02:08Yes.
02:09Mr Shields has also owned shares in racing thoroughbreds and is a director of Greyhounds Australasia,
02:16the national peak body for greyhound racing, but he insists that's not a problem.
02:22I'm satisfied that there are very robust processes in place that deal with any conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest.
02:31Mr Shields pledged any industry links are declared in commission meetings,
02:36however declined the ABC's request for a list of members' register of interests.
02:42The NT's racing minister, who has responsibility for the commission,
02:46has also taken tickets from Sportsbet and Tabcorp, which she's declared.
02:52Many ministers from across many generations have accepted those things.
02:56And this is how utterly absurd the whole situation is.
03:00A landmark inquiry chaired by late Labor MP Peter Murphy
03:04found one of two reasons for Australia's world-leading gambling losses was insufficient regulation.
03:11The report included a recommendation that a national regulator be established,
03:16something the Albanese government has failed to deliver.
03:20They know the harm that the industry is doing because they can see it in the report
03:23that's sitting on the Prime Minister's desk at the moment, which he's refusing to look at.
03:27If you open those pages up, you can see the damage that this industry is doing to Australia every day.
03:32The government says it's still working through the report's recommendations,
03:36while the coalition says it has a clear approach to gambling reform.
03:40But with no pledges this election campaign,
03:43the Darwin office will remain the epicentre of gambling regulation in Australia for now.