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

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


Kate Seselja got rid of a pokies dependency that nearly caused her taking her own life.


Ms Seselja stated Ms Wells told her during a conference in August 2025 it was not the who required convincing about betting reforms but the betting companies, television networks and sporting codes that created revenue from gaming.


"I was flabbergasted," Ms Seselja informed AAP.


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


"To have that level of detach to the truth of betting harm faced by countless Australians, to suggest that individuals with lived experience go consult 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 went to the meeting, supported the exchange.


Ms Wells' office did not reject the comment was made, saying the minister invited the opportunity to consult with the two supporters to listen to their experience with gambling damage.


A representative indicated Labor federal government procedures consisting of the intro of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a ban on credit cards for online betting and changes to cautioning taglines after advertisements.


"The Australian government takes seriously our duty to secure Australians, particularly young and vulnerable people, from the harms of online gambling," the spokesperson stated.


Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's remarks a betrayal of Australians experiencing gambling damage, saying they were "stunning but regrettably not unexpected".


"Being told to lobby the betting industry yourself, after a years of determined advocacy and almost losing your life to addiction, is a profound failure of leadership," she said.


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


"I in fact 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 stated.


"People are passing away and nobody is stopping the carnage."


Independent senator David Pocock described Ms Seselja's recount as deeply unpleasant, while independent MP Monique Ryan assaulted the government for failing to take duty for the problem or withstand vested interests.


Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello branded the remarks and inaction on the concern "a complete failure of federal government", adding he was gobsmacked the federal government had not responded to a gambling damage report released nearly 1000 days earlier.


The landmark report into betting damage handed down in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended a phase-out of marketing, curbing inducements and an overarching nationwide harm-reduction framework.