Former Aussie political foe now working with online gambling operators

Stephen Conroy is a name familiar to most online gambling industry folks as the former Australian government minister who tried to introduce some decidedly Internet-unfriendly censorship legislation in his attempts to shut down online gambling and other pursuits he considered unsuitable for Aussies.

Conroy retired from politics in September after a 20 year career, and has now been appointed head of Responsible Wagering Australia, a new responsible gambling industry body backed by online gambling operators CrownBet, Sportsbet, Betfair, Unibet and Bet365.

Launched Wednesday, the Responsible Wagering Australia organisation has pledged to support the Australian government regulations designed to reduce the amount of gambling advertising during sports broadcasts, and is chaired by another former politician, Richard Colbeck.

In what smacks of an attempt to ameliorate the forthcoming government clampdown on internet gambling (see previous reports), the RWA said in its launch statement that it has been “on a shared objective of ensuring that Australia has the best-conducted, socially responsible wagering industry in the world”.

It has expressed support for government moves to curtail credit betting and advertising on public transport.

Conroy will be putting his political contacts to good use, judging by his comments on his new job:

“I’m looking forward to working closely and co-operatively with the Australian government on their consumer protection agenda,” he said. “We share their objectives and we are determined to engage constructively to make it work.”

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