Communications Minister Anika Wells is under fire from a host of advocates and crossbenchers for telling a former gaming addict to convince wagering companies about reforms, not her.
Kate Seselja overcame a pokies addiction that nearly led to her taking her own life.
Ms Seselja stated Ms Wells informed her during a meeting in August 2025 it was not the minister who needed convincing about betting reforms but the wagering companies, tv networks and sporting codes that produced income from gambling.
"I was flabbergasted," Ms Seselja told AAP.
"To be asked if I had attempted to have conferences with them, as a lived experience supporter, was horrific.
"To have that level of detach to the reality of gambling harm dealt with by countless Australians, to suggest that people with lived experience go fulfill with these predators, made me lose belief in the political system."
Fellow supporter Anna Bardsley from the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE), who likewise attended the meeting, supported the exchange.
Ms Wells' workplace did not deny the comment was made, saying the minister welcomed the opportunity to fulfill with the two advocates to listen to their experience with betting harm.
A spokesperson pointed to Labor federal government steps consisting of the introduction of the self-exclusion register BetStop, a ban on credit cards for online betting and modifications to cautioning taglines after ads.
"The Australian government takes seriously our duty to safeguard Australians, especially young and susceptible people, from the harms of online gambling," the representative stated.
Independent MP Kate Chaney branded the minister's comments a betrayal of Australians experiencing betting damage, stating they were "stunning however regrettably not unexpected".
"Being informed to lobby the gaming market yourself, after a years of tireless advocacy and almost losing your life to addiction, is a profound failure of leadership," she stated.
Ms Seselja said personnel from the communication minister's workplace told her to keep battling for reforms throughout a subsequent conference in March.
"I in fact broke down and lost it at the staffer, since I said to her, if you're not going to do your task, then resource GHLEE to do it," Ms Seselja said.
"People are dying and no one is stopping the carnage."
Independent senator David Pocock explained Ms Seselja's recount as deeply troubling, while independent MP Monique Ryan attacked the federal government for stopping working to take responsibility for the problem or stand up to vested interests.
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief supporter Tim Costello branded the remarks and inactiveness on the problem "a total failure of government", adding he was gobsmacked the federal government had not responded to a gambling damage report released nearly 1000 days ago.
The landmark report into betting damage handed down in June 2023 by late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended a phase-out of advertising, curbing incentives and an overarching national harm-reduction framework.