Pat Conaghan Raises Concerns Over Gambling Reform Bill in House Debate

During a session in Australia's House of Representatives in August 2026 Nationals MP Pat Conaghan delivered a speech that focused on the Albanese government's gambling reform bill and its alignment with earlier recommendations from a 2023 parliamentary inquiry titled You Win Some You Lose More which contained 31 recommendations and remains available through aph.gov.au parliamentary records.

Context of the Parliamentary Exchange

Conaghan described the bill as a watered-down version of those inquiry findings while pointing to specific gaps in the proposed measures including the absence of restrictions on online gambling advertising and the lack of controls on predatory inducements offered by betting companies and he noted that the legislation did not include mandated reviews to assess harm reduction outcomes over time.

The speech occurred against a backdrop of testimony presented to a related inquiry earlier in the month where witnesses described practices in the gambling industry that extended beyond standard promotions and one such account came from former rugby league player Luke Bateman who alleged that gambling promoters supplied cocaine and alcohol without any accompanying duty of care.

Details Highlighted in the Address

Conaghan referenced the inquiry testimony directly and questioned the effectiveness of the reforms in their current form while emphasizing that the bill did not incorporate several key elements identified during the 2023 review process and observers noted that his remarks connected the legislative text to real-world accounts presented in recent hearings.

Those accounts included claims that inducements sometimes involved substances beyond financial incentives and the MP used these points to illustrate why additional safeguards might be required in the final legislation.

Testimony and Legislative Gaps

Bateman's statements to the inquiry earlier in August 2026 formed a central reference in Conaghan's presentation and the former player described situations where promoters provided both alcohol and cocaine as part of engagement efforts with no mechanisms in place to address potential harms and Conaghan tied these examples to the bill's omission of certain advertising restrictions and review requirements.

The 2023 inquiry had outlined 31 recommendations that covered a range of regulatory areas yet the MP argued that the current bill addressed only a portion of those points leaving others unaddressed and data from the inquiry process showed patterns of inducements that extended into areas not covered by the proposed reforms.

Broader Parliamentary Response

Other members present during the exchange listened as Conaghan outlined the differences between the bill and the full set of inquiry recommendations and the discussion touched on how the absence of mandated harm reduction reviews could affect future assessments of the legislation's impact.

Records from the session indicate that the speech lasted several minutes and incorporated direct quotes from the recent testimony while connecting those details to the structure of the reform bill itself and the points raised aligned with documents submitted during the earlier inquiry phase.

Conclusion

The exchange in the House of Representatives highlighted specific differences between the gambling reform bill and the 2023 inquiry recommendations as presented by Conaghan and the references to August 2026 testimony provided concrete examples that the MP used to support his description of the legislation and further details on the inquiry remain accessible through official parliamentary channels.