Members of the crossbench have called for Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s resignation following revelations she received large donations from Sportsbet in the lead-up to her election last year.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who is leading the push, moved a motion in Parliament Thursday after question time for Rowland to stand down, or have the prime minister intervene, for accepting a string of gifts and donations from the online gambling industry before the 2022 federal election.
“I’ve made the point, I hope, as clear as needs to be made that the minister is completely and utterly conflicted. Completely and utterly conflicted,” Wilkie said.
“And even if she wasn’t so patently conflicted, she clearly has made such grievous errors of judgment that surely she’s not fit to sit on the frontbench as a minister in this government.”
Earlier on Thursday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Rowland, whose portfolio in government makes key gambling policy decisions, received $19,000 in donations from Sportsbet on the eve of last year’s federal election.
In addition to the donation, Sportsbet paid for an $8960 dinner at Sydney’s Rockpool in support of Rowland’s election campaign in March 2022, before giving a further $10,000 to Rowland’s election campaign again in May.
The call for Rowland to explain herself or be stood down in Parliament was supported by the Greens and seconded by independent MP Zoe Daniel. Daniel told the chamber she had deep concerns over transparency and accountability, after levelling questions of her own at Rowland earlier in the afternoon.
“And the concern, obviously, to state the obvious, is that these kinds of donations can have a potential influence on decision-making,” Daniel said.
“That can be very subtle, when a member is attending the kinds of events over time that [Wilkie] referenced, that can lead to personal relationships and a slippage of the kinds of ethics and integrity that I’m talking about.”
Responding to Daniel earlier that afternoon, Rowland said she remained “committed” to reducing the harms of online gambling. Later in the day the government’s leader of the House, Tony Burke, came to her defence as well.
“Let me say, without a doubt, the minister for communications is a person of extraordinary ability and impeccable integrity,” Burke said, after saying the calls didn’t speak to whether or not the minister had breached the ministerial code of conduct, and insisted she hadn’t given betting companies favourable treatment since entering office.
Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie responded to Burke by claiming that Rowland could be exposed to a breach of section 3.21 of the code of conduct, which says ministers cannot “seek or accept” any kind of benefit or “other valuable consideration” while “performing or not performing” any of their duties as minister.
In a statement, the Alliance for Gambling Reform’s chief advocate Tim Costello backed the calls for Rowland’s resignation.
He said the public could “no longer have faith” in Rowland’s ability to carry out her responsibilities as a “key decision-maker” on policies impacting Sportsbet after she has taken their money.
“Be it a conflict of interest or even a perceived conflict of interest, the minister must not stay in her role where she is responsible for the regulation of online gambling advertising,” Costello said.
“Surely the prime minister must hold his ministers to account as stated in his own code of conduct for ministers and take action against this minister if she does not stand down.
“There is white-hot anger among the public on the tsunami of sports-betting advertisements that are bombarding our kids and warping our sporting culture. Yet this minister has had little interest in considering any real reforms.”
Michelle Rowland should follow the example of Sam Dastyari who acted honourably in declaring conflicts of interest and standing down.
The rest of the ALP would be able to breathe easy and keep the focus on Gina Rinehart’s material support for the COALition.
Questionable judgement to be sure. Dumping Rowland from the front bench might send a message that this democracy has not been totally captured by the filthy corruption that comes along with gambling.
No person should think that it is possible to have a fair wager on anything. Remember that a mug punter is the one who doesn’t know which way the event has been fixed.
I haven’t seen the comparison made yet, but isn’t a donation from Sportsbet of the same ilk as a donation from a tobacco company ?
Sure is; they’re both in the business of preying on the very young and creating addictions.
yep. It is the same as the health minister taking money from British American Tobacco. I voted Labor and will continue to do so, but she should step downb
What’s the betting Rowland clings on anyway?
Labor federally and in several states is merely a front for the betting industry. Although ‘industry’ is most inappropriate noun.
if Labor seriously want us to believe that they’re doing politics better than the LNP, it’s a no-brainer – a quick mea culpa and then swap her out for someone who hasn’t taken money from the parasitic gambling indus– oh, wait
How many of the previous “government” resigned from Parliament?……………..
……….given that they were not only funded, holus-bolus, by the Fossil Fuel Industry but also employed them as staffers, advisers, whatever and received an absolute free kick.
We know the answer to that, Thucydides. More than forty Coalition ministers resigned or were sacked between 2013 and 2022.
We also know that the long-term rate per year of resignation or sacking of Coalition ministers is ten times Labor’s rate.
Wilkie is, as usual, correct. Rowland has not only created / accepted a conflict of interest, she is too obtuse to have not recognised it in the first place. Albo has fallen at the first hurdle in the Integrity Stakes. If I were in Aston, I’d be looking for a Teal independent for my vote.
As for Burke’s defence of Rowland, when they toss around absolutes like “outstanding, superior, extraordinary, impeccable” and suchlike, then the speaker has also decided their integrity also is of no account.
Burke is ex-SDA, a union that laughably claims to represent its members while accepting their dues. He doesn’t stand for much.
What odds is Sportsbet giving on her staying…?
Will they let you put money on a sure thing?
I doubt the libs are squeaky clean on the matter either
Of course they’re not. Who would think different? But they are not in government, and a minister counts for rather than more than some shadow wannabe.
It raises questions in regard to ministerial responsibility that the former government routinely side-stepped, a trend that both undermined our Westminster system and caused a surge of independents into Parliament, that Labor now face. To reassert the fundamentals of principle, and lose some skin in the short term, or carry on with the trend to side-step? Labor has the option of seizing the high ethical ground here. If they chose this course they have to prosecute the case strongly in the public arena that this is a reset, or else their opponents will claim it as a scalp. If they don’t seize the day, and persist with the obfuscation that has been normalised, the independents will be strengthened.
A real test.
Albo should have moved quick to replace her ie. set an example that Labor is different to the coalition on corruption. All monies (bribes) should then be given to charities fighting the vile scourge that is online gambling. Rowland is so little known & she won’t be missed.