Minister's Words To Gambling Reform Advocate 'Stunning'.

Communications Minister Anika Wells is under fire from a host of advocates and crossbenchers for informing a previous betting addict to encourage betting companies about reforms, not her.


Kate Seselja got rid of a pokies addiction that practically resulted in her taking her own life.


Ms Seselja stated Ms Wells told her throughout a meeting in August 2025 it was not the minister who needed convincing about gambling reforms however the betting companies, tv networks and sporting codes that produced earnings from betting.


"I was flabbergasted," Ms Seselja informed AAP.


"To be asked if I had actually attempted to have meetings with them, as a lived experience supporter, was horrific.


"To have that level of detach to the truth of betting damage dealt with by countless Australians, to suggest that people with lived experience go meet these predators, made me lose belief in the political system."


Fellow supporter Anna Bardsley from the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE), who also went to the conference, supported the exchange.


Ms Wells' office did not reject the comment was made, saying the minister welcomed the chance to meet the two advocates to listen to their experience with gambling damage.


A spokesperson pointed to Labor federal government procedures including the introduction of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a ban on charge card for online betting and changes to alerting taglines after advertisements.


"The Australian government takes seriously our obligation to safeguard Australians, especially young and individuals, from the damages of online betting," the spokesperson stated.


Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's remarks a betrayal of Australians experiencing gambling harm, stating they were "shocking however unfortunately not surprising".


"Being informed to lobby the betting industry yourself, after a decade of determined advocacy and almost losing your life to addiction, is an extensive failure of leadership," she stated.


Ms Seselja said personnel from the interaction minister's workplace informed her to keep defending reforms during a subsequent meeting in March.


"I really broke down and lost it at the staffer, due to the fact that I said to her, if you're not going to do your task, then resource GHLEE to do it," Ms Seselja stated.


"People are dying and no one is stopping the carnage."


Independent senator David Pocock explained Ms Seselja's recount as deeply troubling, while independent MP Monique Ryan attacked the federal government for failing to take obligation for the concern or withstand vested interests.


Alliance for Gambling Reform chief supporter Tim Costello branded the comments and inactiveness on the concern "a complete failure of federal government", adding he was gobsmacked the federal government had not reacted to a gambling damage report launched nearly 1000 days earlier.


The landmark report into betting harm bied far in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy suggested a phase-out of advertising, suppressing incentives and an overarching national harm-reduction framework.