Wilkie says V’landys should 'pull his head in' over gambling inquiry comments

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has told Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys to “pull his head in” after making “appalling” comments about a Senate inquiry into gambling advertising.

Mr V’landys labelled some senators examining Labor’s long-awaited reforms “publicity-seeking extremists” and dismissed the inquiry as “a waste of time”.

“How dare he,” responded Mr Wilkie on an Australia Institute webinar.

“To turn around and to hurl personal abuse at people who are just trying to do the right thing in the public interest, I think that’s appalling,” he said.

Mr V’landys said senators leading the inquiry had been elected on a “handful of votes”, accusing them of ignoring facts and trying to “run everyone’s lives”.

“They are in this fight to win it. They’re not pulling any punches, are they?” asked the Australia Institute’s webinar host Noah Schultz-Byard.

“Neither will I,” responded Mr Wilkie.

“I think Albo’s mate V’landys should pull his head in.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the NRL and ARL declined invitations to appear at the inquiry, which has heard explosive claims about gambling companies offering high-value clients free drugs, escorts and flights.

“They are all part of an industry that trades on misery and harvests money, often from the most needy members of the community.”

“How dare he say that about elected members of parliament who are genuinely just trying to do the right thing,” Mr Wilkie said.

“If I was in their shoes, I’d just keep my mouth shut and make the best case I could for maintaining the status quo.”

The Tasmanian MP has campaigned for action on gambling advertising during his 16 years in parliament, recently describing the Albanese government’s long-awaited reforms package as “useless”.

Labor introduced the legislation to Parliament on 2 July, with the Prime Minister promising his government would “take the strongest possible action that any government has taken in history”.

The Murphy Review on Gambling, chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, recommended 31 unanimous measures for a public health approach to gambling harm, including a total ban on all gambling advertising, a national regulator, and stronger consumer protections.

Mr Wilkie said the government’s response was “absolutely appalling”.

“If the government goes ahead and implements what’s on the table currently, only three of the committee’s 31 recommendations will have been acted on, and even then, only in part,” he said.

“And it will not have acted on the three flagship recommendations.”

They included a complete ban on gambling advertising, phased in over several years, a complete ban on inducements and for an independent national regulator to be established.

“What we are facing at the moment will be something that could well have been written in Sportsbets’ boardroom,” he said.

“The government’s still going to allow three ads an hour from six in the morning to 8:30 at night. There’s no regulator. There’s no ban on inducements.”

Research by the Australia Institute in July showed Australians lost over $104 billion to gambling between July 2023 and July 2026, which equates to an average of $666 million per week.

Chief Advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Reverend Tim Costello, described the losses as a “national tragedy”.

Polling by the Australia Institute in May showed around three quarters of Australians support a complete ban on gambling advertising.

“The government is doing just enough to look like they’re doing something, and not anywhere near what we need to rein in the predators in the gambling industry,” Mr Wilkie said.

He warned that the shocking evidence being presented to the Senate committee was “just the tip of the iceberg”.

“I’ve spoken to quite a few people who have or are regarded as VIPs by the gambling companies, and the largesse that is extended to them is eye-watering.”

He said he had also spoken to family members who had lost loved ones by suicide linked to gambling addiction.

“There’s a human cost here for the for the poor souls who develop an addiction, and by definition they can’t control their gambling anymore,” he said.

“They are unwell people that we should be wrapping our arms around and helping.”