Communications Minister Anika Wells is under fire from a host of advocates and crossbenchers for telling a former gambling addict to convince wagering companies about reforms, not her.
Kate Seselja overcame a pokies addiction that almost led to her taking her own life.
Ms Seselja said Ms Wells told her during a meeting in August 2025 it was not the minister who needed convincing about gambling reforms but the wagering companies, television networks and sporting codes that generated revenue from gambling.
"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 suggest that people with lived experience go meet with these predators, made me lose belief in the political system."
Fellow advocate Anna Bardsley from the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE), who also attended the meeting, corroborated the exchange.
Ms Wells' office did not deny the comment was made, saying the minister welcomed the opportunity to meet with the two advocates to listen to their experience with gambling harm.
A spokesperson pointed to Labor government measures including the introduction of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a ban on credit cards for online gambling and changes to warning taglines after ads.
"The Australian government takes seriously our responsibility to protect Australians, particularly young and vulnerable people, from the harms of online gambling," the spokesperson said.
Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's comments a betrayal of Australians experiencing gambling harm, saying they were "shocking but unfortunately not surprising".
"Being told to lobby the gambling industry yourself, after a decade of tireless advocacy and nearly losing your life to addiction, is a profound failure of leadership," she said.
Ms Seselja said staff from the communication minister's office told her to keep fighting for reforms during a subsequent meeting in March.
"I actually broke down and lost it at the staffer, because 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 described Ms Seselja's recount as deeply troubling, while independent MP Monique Ryan attacked the government for failing to take responsibility for the issue or stand up to vested interests.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello branded the comments and inaction on the issue "a complete failure of government", adding he was gobsmacked the federal government had not responded to a gambling harm report released almost 1000 days ago.
The landmark report into gambling harm handed down in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended a phase-out of advertising, curbing inducements and an overarching national harm-reduction framework.
National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
