Cantwell claimed he preferred not to provide detailed answers to questions about his position because RWA had prepared a comprehensive written statement addressing the questions.
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But a statement supplied by RWA simply said: “Mr Cantwell’s appointment and activities are in full compliance with the law and the Lobbying Code of Conduct.”
The peak body did not answer how Cantwell would handle sensitive information learned from working inside the government, why RWA was no longer on the lobbyist register, and when it removed itself from the register.
In its press release announcing Cantwell’s appointment last month, RWA stated he had worked for federal ministers but did not specify which ones or how recently he was employed by them.
On his LinkedIn page, Cantwell states he “played a key role in the development, negotiation, and implementation of the first tranche of measures of the National Consumer Protection Framework (NCPF) for online wagering”. The NCPF is the key set of wagering rules, such as self-exclusion and harm minimisation messaging, that is the focus of the industry’s lobbying efforts.
Monash associate professor Yee-Fui Ng.
Monash University Associate Professor Yee-Fui Ng, a former adviser at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, urged the government to strengthen the law by enacting stricter disclosure requirements and creating an independent commissioner to enforce the lobbying scheme.
“Ministerial advisers are subject to a one-year cooling-off period, but it’s … regularly breached,” she said.
“The lobbyist register at federal level is weak – it is narrow in scope, just covering third-party lobbyists (not in-house lobbyists), and lacks enforcement.”
Daniel said it was already known that the gambling sector enjoyed privileged access to decision-makers in major parties.
“Now this,” she said. “It doesn’t pass the pub test. On the face of it, RWA appears to have gamed the lobbyist system to get around the inadequate rules surrounding the lobbyist register.”
The appointment of Cantwell is the latest case of a former adviser to a Liberal minister moving into the gambling ecosystem.
Three of Sportsbet’s top staffers in government relations, public affairs and reputation management were advisers to Liberal ministers with some responsibility for gambling regulation and the NCPF.
Sportsbet, the largest sports betting firm in Australia, has gained effective control of RWA after the organisation’s former chief, ex-Victorian government minister Justin Madden, abruptly left last year. RWA hired Sportsbet’s former chief legal officer, Julie Ryan, to review and help manage the body and she remains at the organisation.
Top RWA staff report directly to Sportsbet, according to two gambling sources speaking anonymously to divulge industry information.
Tim Costello, anti-gambling advocate.
Like Cantwell, Sportsbet’s government relations head worked for Ruston and left the office in the second half of last year. Sportsbet, which hosted a lavish fundraising dinner with Labor’s Communications Minister Michelle Rowland before the election, was contacted for comment.
Leading anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello said RWA was exploiting a deficiency in the rules that allowed peak bodies like RWA to keep itself off the public register.
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“The gambling sector has always been the parachute and package for politicians and their staff because it is so well paid,” he said, citing current and former MPs Richard Colbeck, Nick Minchin and Stephen Conroy, all of whom have worked with RWA.
“When [a government tries to regulate the gambling sector], these people know the chokeholds; they can advise those who want to oppose reform about who is susceptible, who is seducible.”
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