Witty Rejoinder said:

captain_spalding said:

dv said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-03/lobbyist-pass-sponsors-revealed-ruston-gambling/107339570

Shadow health minister sponsoring access for gambling group boss Kai Cantwell, her former chief of staff

Ministers are sponsoring passes to lobbyists seeking to influence them directly, with Labor and Liberal MPs also providing access to gambling lobbyists, according to the first disclosures of who has direct access to politicians at Parliament House.

For the first time the public has been able to see which federal politicians are providing access for lobbyists to parliament, following a decision by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to tighten access and disclosure rules earlier this year.

Among the first tranche of disclosures are two passes for gambling lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, which represents bet365, Sportsbet, Betfair and others, and has been co-sponsored by Labor and Liberal MPs.

Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston is the primary sponsor for Responsible Wagering Australia’s chief executive Kai Cantwell, while Labor senator Raff Ciccone sponsors its other pass, with Senator Ruston also a secondary sponsor.

Why would MPs bother with people from the gambling industry?

We regularly have news reports of how the management of Star Casinos just cannot seem to make money out of an enterprise where at least 90% of the people who enter their establishments end up going home with barely a dollar to their name. And quite a lot of those customers are only too keen to repeat the experience as often as they can.

If they can’t turn a profit out of a business mode like that, then they’re obviously useless and inept morons. Surely MPs and Ministers could find better consorts?

Casinos are a pretty small percentage of total gambling turnover.

Possibly, but my point is that, if casino operators are as described in the media, they may well be emblematic of people in the gambling industry.

Politicians shouldn’t associate with klutzes like them.

<t.i.c., if you hadn’t guessed>