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The Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australia Society will hold its final public hearing on 30 October 2024.

The committee, chaired by Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon MP, tabled its second interim report last week, which focused on Meta’s decision to abandon deals under the News Media Bargaining Code, what this means for the consumption of news in Australia, and the impact of mis- and disinformation on our democracy and society.

Building on previous hearings where the committee heard from social media platforms, media organisations, and other stakeholders with experience of the harm caused by social media, the committee will now hear directly from the eSafety Youth Council and ReachOut Youth Advocates to provide important youth perspectives.

The committee will be seeking the views of these young people on issues such as age verification, the use of algorithms, and education about online safety.

The inquiry’s final report is due to be tabled on or before 18 November 2024.

Committee Chair Sharon Claydon:

“This final public hearing provides a platform for young people to share their insights and experiences about online safety directly with the committee.

“We have heard evidence from a wide range of stakeholders about the online harms facing Australians, particularly young people online, and now it is time to hear from young people themselves who have grown up with this technology.”

Donations from gambling companies linked to horse betting to the Labor and Liberal parties have surged dramatically over the past decade, skyrocketing from $66,650 in 2013-2014 to a staggering $488,000 in 2022-2023—an increase of more than 600%. 

Method 

A search of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) Transparency Register was conducted by the Parliamentary Library, with results provided to Senator Faruqi’s office.

The data presented in Table 1 is derived from incoming payments made by racing organisations and sports linked to horse racing and horse racing betting companies, as well as entities involved in both sports and horse racing betting, gaming (including pokies), and lotteries. Contributions from casinos (which derive some revenue from sports and race betting) and lottery-exclusive companies have been excluded from this analysis. 

The search included the following companies linked to horse betting (refer to Appendix 1 for full list):

• Australian Racing Board
• Sportsbet
• Tabcorp 
• Responsible Wagering Australia (formerly known as Australian Wagering Council) 
• Victoria Racing Club

Year by donor	Labor	Liberal	Nationals	Total
2013-14	36,650	30,000	0	66,650
Australian Wagering Council	30,150			30,150
Sportsbet	2,500			2,500
Tabcorp Holdings		30,000		30,000
Tatts Group	4,000			4,000
2014-15	56,450	25,000	0	81,450
Australian Wagering Council	20,450			20,450
Tabcorp Holdings	25,000	25,000		50,000
Tatts Group	11,000			11,000
2015-16	117,268	45,000	0	162,268
Sportsbet	35,000	15,000		50,000
Tabcorp Holdings	52,500	30,000		82,500
Tatts Group	29,768			29,768
2016-17	200,250	90,000	22,000	312,250
Australian Wagering Council	27,500			27,500
Responsible Wagering Australia	55,000	60,000		115,000
Sportsbet	33,000			33,000
Tabcorp Holdings	82,750	30,000	22,000	134,750
Tatts Group	2,000			2,000
2017-18	169,200	30,000	23,300	222,500
Melbourne Racing Club	14,000			14,000
Sportsbet	49,500			49,500
Tabcorp Holdings	90,700	30,000	23,300	144,000
Tatts Group	15,000			15,000
2018-19	122,500	142,500	22,000	287,000
BetEasy		27,500		27,500
Responsible Wagering Australia	35,500	85,000		120,500
Sportsbet	49,500			49,500
Tabcorp Holdings	37,500	30,000	22,000	89,500
2019-20	61,000	140,000	22,000	223,000
BetEasy		27,500		27,500
Responsible Wagering Australia		55,000		55,000
Sportsbet		27,500		27,500
Tabcorp Holdings	61,000	30,000	22,000	113,000
2020-21	136,420	142,500	22,000	300,920
Responsible Wagering Australia	19,320			19,320
Sportsbet	55,000	112,500		167,500
Tabcorp Holdings	62,100	30,000	22,000	114,100
2021-22	293,695	192,500	75,000	561,195
Responsible Wagering Australia	82,000	77,500	20,000	179,500
Sportsbet	122,550	85,000	33,000	240,550
Tabcorp Holdings	89,145	30,000	22,000	141,145
2022-23	296,000	115,000	77,000	488,000
Responsible Wagering Australia	115,000	25,000	22,000	162,000
Sportsbet	110,000	60,000	33,000	203,000
Tabcorp Holdings	66,000	30,000	22,000	118,000
Thoroughbred Breeders Australia	5,000			5,000
Grand Total	1,489,433	952,500	263,300	2,705,233

Graph 1: Gambling donations by political parties (2013/14 – 2022/23)

Key Findings 

The donation figures, provided by the Parliamentary Library, show that donations have skyrocketed over the last decade from 2013-2023. 

Donations from gambling companies involved in horse racing betting to the Labor and Liberal parties have surged dramatically over the past decade, skyrocketing from $66,650 in 2013-2014 to a staggering $488,000 in 2023-2024—a 7 fold increase (more than 600%).

Tabcorp Holdings have made the most significant donations to the major political parties in a ten year period from 2013-2023, totalling over $1 million. 

Industry peak bodies like Responsible Wagering Australia (formally known as Australian Wagering Council) have also made significant contributions to both the major parties in that 10 year period totalling $729,420, including a massive $179,500 in 2021-2022. 

The total donations over this 2013-2023 period amounted to $2.7 million with Labor being by far the largest recipient of gambling donations linked to horse betting at $1.5 million, the Liberal party at $952,500.

Donations to Labor more than doubled (went up 115%)  from $136,420 in 2020-2021 to $293,695 in 2021-2022 – ahead of the 2022 federal election, and have remained consistently high during Labor’s first term in government. 

Attitudes towards horse racing

Nationally-representative independent polling conducted by Lonergan Research for the Greens found from 2021 – 2024 half to two-thirds of respondents agreed that racing animals like horses and greyhounds for gambling and entertainment is cruel:

• 2021: 55% 
• 2022: 50%
• 2023: 64%
• 2024: 60% 

In 2024, when asked a specific question about banning commercial horse racing almost half (49%) of respondents agreed that commercial horse racing should be banned altogether (with more than a quarter strongly agreeing – 26%). 

Attitudes towards the Melbourne Cup                              

In 2023, publicly available data shows there was a combined total of 62%  of those polled had ‘low’ or ‘no’ interest in the Melbourne Cup. This was up 10% from 2022. Additionally, those with a ‘high interest’ in the Melbourne Cup dropped from 15% in 2022 to 11% in 2023.

In the same poll, 41% of respondents said they were not interested in the Melbourne Cup and would not place a bet. This was up from 34% from 2022. 

Research conducted by the Parliamentary Library saw a 46% decline in the commercial television audience for the Melbourne Cup from 2013 with 2,168,000 people viewing the race compared to 1,168,000 in 2023. These figures do not include out-of-home viewing.

Quotes attributable to Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“If you want to know why Labor has done nothing to address the scourge of gambling or the cruelty of horse racing here you have it in hard numbers. They’re getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in blood money donations from horse betting companies.

“Labor and the Liberals work for their donors and lobby groups. They don’t care about the pain that gambling causes to so many in this country. They don’t care that a horse gets killed every two days on race tracks in this anachronistic, grotesque festival of cruelty. All they care about is lining their pockets with donations from the gambling industry.

“While more and more people switch off from this gambling-fuelled animal cruelty, the immoral industry makes sure they bankroll the major political parties to buy their silence. 

“It’s time to shut down horse racing once and for all, ban gambling ads and ban dirty donations from gambling companies.” 

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Appendix 1 – full list of companies linked to horse racing who made political donations

• Primarily racing companies and organisations
  • Albion Park Harness Racing Club
  • Australian Racing Board
  • Canberra Racing Club
  • Centre Racing
  • Melbourne Racing Club
  • NSW Thoroughbred Racing Board
  • Thoroughbred Breeders Australia
  • Victoria Racing Club
• Primarily sports and horse racing betting companies and organisations
  • Responsible Wagering Australia (formerly known as Australian Wagering Council)
  • BetEasy
  • Sportsbet
• Combination of sports and horse racing betting, gambling (including pokies) and lottery
  • Tabcorp
  • Tattersalls
  • Tatts Group

On Melbourne Cup Day, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and spokesperson for Animal Welfare, is calling for horse racing to be shut down, and dirty donations from gambling companies linked to horse racing to be banned once and for all. 

Recent findings have revealed that over 1,400 horses have died on racetracks in the past decade—an average of one every 2.4 days. Meanwhile, in this same period, donations from gambling companies to the major parties have soared from $66,650 in 2013-2014 to $488,000 in 2022-2023—a staggering 632% increase.

Additionally, there has been a 22.5% decline in the commercial television audience for the Melbourne Cup between  2013  to 2023 with 2,168,000 people viewing the race in 2013 compared to 1,680,000 in 2023—further evidence that more people are saying Nup to the Cup. 

Senator Faruqi:

“More and more people are saying ‘Nup to the Cup’ every year and fewer and fewer people are watching it. The only reason this carnival of cruelty goes on is because gambling companies make a windfall and they bankroll the two major parties into silence.

“The Melbourne Cup epitomises the farce of the horse racing industry in a single day: a shameful cocktail of animal cruelty, gambling harm, corporate profits and dirty donations.

“In the past decade as hundreds of horses have been killed on race tracks this gambling-fuelled spectacle of cruelty is losing its social license. Gambling companies know this and are protecting their profits by giving more and more blood money to both Labor and the Liberals. 

“The two major parties serve their donors. They ignore the pain and harm gambling inflicts on countless people  and they certainly do not care that a horse is killed every two  and a half days on race tracks. 

“It’s time to end this grotesque festival of animal cruelty fuelled by gambling and alcohol. 

“Let’s put the Melbourne Cup in the dustbin of history where it belongs. 

“We must shut down horse racing once and for all, ban gambling ads and end dirty donations from gambling companies.” 

Australian Greens Deputy leader and spokesperson for higher education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi has responded to reports that Labor is considering rolling back the atrocious Morrison government job ready graduates scheme, stating that they should urgently legislate these changes.

Senator Faruqi:

“It’s yet another win for the Greens that Labor is finally considering undoing the fee hikes, but they need to get their skates on and dump them now.

“Labor should have dumped Morrison’s Job-Ready Graduates scheme the second they came to power. The scheme is a cruel, punitive mess that does nothing except burden students with fee hikes and deprive staff of resources. 

“Labor was vehemently against Morrison’s uni fee hikes scheme in opposition, calling them “beyond repair”, yet they’ve backed the fee hikes whilst in power and ignored advice from their own Accord process to urgently address them.

“Students starting university next year shouldn’t have to cop these ridiculous fees. Too many have had to cop them already because Labor has dragged their feet on overturning some of the most patently unfair higher education policy this country has ever seen.

“Let’s be clear that university should be free and scrapping uni fee hikes is just the start. The Greens will continue to fight to wipe all student debt and make university and TAFE free, as it was when the PM went to uni.”