Overview
- This week a two-day Senate inquiry heard former NRL player Luke Bateman say wagering staff offered inducements including drugs and luxury travel, testimony that intensified calls to ban inducements.
- The Coalition, the Greens and key crossbenchers say Labor's draft is inadequate and are demanding major amendments, leaving the bill effectively without assured Senate support.
- Labor officials have signalled they will negotiate limited changes but will not accept a wholesale rewrite and have warned they may pull the bill if demands force major changes.
- The draft law would impose partial limits on TV and radio ads, ban stadium and jersey branding and create an online 'triple lock' opt-out system, but critics cite privacy, technical and timing problems for platforms.
- Internal pressure from Labor MPs for tougher inducement rules clashes with stakeholders such as broadcasters and sporting codes, and the Senate arithmetic means the bill could stall or be reshaped in coming days.