Updated August 4, 2026 — 6:19pm,first published 3:46pmAustralian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys has dismissed senators leading an inquiry into Labor’s wagering laws as “publicity-seeking extremists” while betting companies have denied any knowledge of claims agents were using drugs and escorts to encourage clients to gamble.A Senate inquiry into Labor’s contentious wagering and advertising laws has turned up the heat on the Albanese government and gambling industry, airing allegations that betting companies have also lured VIPs with thousands of dollars worth of free bets, hotels, grand final tickets and alcohol.At odds … Acting NRL chief executive Peter V’landys and independent senator David Pocock.Dominic Lorrimer, Alex EllinghausenAs government ministers conceded the evidence had been distressing and appalling, Sportsbet, Tabcorp and peak body Responsible Wagering Australia rejected those claims, telling Tuesday’s hearing that anyone with evidence of illicit activity should report it to police.The NRL and AFL, meanwhile, have refused the Senate’s invitation to appear at the inquiry. Asked why he would not appear, V’landys, who is also the acting NRL chief executive, said: “As some of the members on the committee are publicity-seeking extremists, it’s a waste of time.”“They just ignore facts and base all their outcomes on ideology. Their main aim is to run everyone’s lives. What’s more disturbing is they get into this power with a handful of votes,” he said. The AFL was contacted for comment.V’landys’ comments escalate an increasingly tense public debate over Labor’s gambling laws.Independent senator David Pocock, who has been prosecuting the case for reform alongside Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of ignoring both experts and Australians who had lost family members to suicide over their addictions.Responsible Wagering Australia chief executive Kai Cantwell.Alex EllinghausenThe senators have identified three main issues with Albanese’s package: it does not introduce a national regulator; it does not outlaw betting inducements; and there is no blanket ban on gambling ads – despite the recommendations of the 2023 inquiry led by late Labor MP Peta Murphy.Instead, streaming services will be able to show unlimited gambling ads to registered adult users, so long as they offer an opt-out service, while broadcasters can show three ads an hour. Department officials on Tuesday could not specify where that quota had come from.“We’ve got a prime minister who listens to the gambling lobby instead, who puts Peter V’landys ahead of Peta Murphy,” Pocock said on Monday.Many backbench Labor MPs wanted the government to implement the Murphy report. Media companies and sports codes pushed back, and V’landys has argued that most problem gambling was because of poker machines and lotteries, not betting on racing and sport. He has claimed that a full ban on gambling advertising would hurt the funding of junior sport.Albanese, a South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter and former club director, has forged a relationship with V’landys through rugby league. The pair negotiated the federal government’s $600 million Pacific rugby league package, which was designed to counter the influence of China in the region.In private, V’landys has been effusive in his praise for Albanese. One of Australia’s most powerful sporting administrators, he is currently also acting as NRL chief executive after taking four months long-service leave from Racing NSW, which he has run for 22 years.Betting companies deny explosive claimsBoth Pocock and Hanson-Young said the testimonies from reform advocate Tim Costello and former rugby league player Luke Bateman explained why Labor wanted to push the laws through parliament and avoid an inquiry.Kai Cantwell, the chief executive of industry peak body Responsible Wagering Australia, said some “pretty egregious claims have been levelled against some of my members and non-members”.Sportsbet’s Jules Norton Selzer.Alex Ellinghausen“These are incredibly serious. RWA and our members strongly refute these claims,” he said, after Bateman said he’d been supplied with drugs at a VIP raceday event.“If these claims are true, we strongly recommend complaints are levelled with the individual operators as well as law enforcement and regulators so that clearly illegal behaviours can be properly investigated,” Cantwell said.Sportsbet’s head of corporate affairs, Jules Norton Selzer, told the inquiry: “I also want to make it very clear that we have zero evidence of the allegations made by Reverend Costello yesterday.”“We have no tolerance for that kind of deplorable conduct and information, and no information has been provided to us beyond what was referenced yesterday, and we would gladly investigate it.”Tabcorp’s head of government affairs, Julian Whealing, said: “These claims do not in any way form part of Tabcorp customer offering, and Tabcorp has zero tolerance for this behaviour.”“Any evidence of this illegal activity should be referred to the relevant authorities,” he said.Costello on Monday described the case of a financial adviser who allegedly stole $12.3 million from his company to fund his gambling addiction. He said TAB had given him $50,000 bonus bets, while Sportsbet flew him to grand finals and offered “escorts, drugs, whatever he wanted”.Asked about the evidence behind those claims, Costello said: “I expect it will come out in court, when it goes to hearing.”Bateman, a former Canberra Raiders NRL player who is now an online influencer, said that during one exclusive event, he said: “The entire C-suite of the company was there ... And I was out in this room doing drugs with all of them. This is like the CEO, the founders, the VIP managers.”Bateman has declined to name the companies involved or give further detail about the allegations.Betting ‘inducements’ under the microscopeAfter Monday’s evidence increased scrutiny on betting inducements, gambling companies on Tuesday aimed to differentiate between what they described as inducements, promotions and illegal activity.Cantwell said inducements – such as sign-up or referral bonuses – were already banned, while activities such as those described by Costello and Bateman were illegal. He said promotions such as special offers, on the other hand, were legitimate products offered by many businesses.“The term inducements is being broadly used to categorise all three of those products,” Cantwell said. “It’s very important for the committee to understand the differentiation.”Racing industry figures on Monday described these offers as “generosities”, and said they represented about 30 per cent of turnover.But Coalition senator Sarah Henderson cited an example of someone who had lost $500,000 being offered $50,000 in bonus bets – which is within the law.“I would put to you that further action is required to regulate that conduct,” Henderson said – indicating that the Coalition could push the government into clamping down further on inducements.Acting prime minister Richard Marles on Tuesday repeated the government’s line, saying Labor had done more to address problem gambling than any other government.“But certainly that evidence, which was given yesterday, does tell a very disturbing story and it shocked me,” he said. “We’ve looked at this issue in detail over a long period of time. There is a balance that has to be struck here, and we intend to reach that balance.”Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.From our partners