More than eight in 10 respondents to a survey by independent MLA Thomas Emerson support banning gambling industry donations from ACT politics, as he pushes for support for legislation introduced in June.

More than 500 people participated in Mr Emerson’s community survey, with 86 per cent supporting removing gambling money from politics and 83 per cent saying they believed industry donations influenced politicians’ decisions on gambling reform.

Mr Emerson’s private member’s bill would amend the Electoral Act to prohibit political donations from gambling businesses and associated people.

The proposed ban covers casinos, bookmakers, racing organisations, gambling equipment manufacturers and poker machine venues, as well as organisations receiving most of their funding from the gambling industry.

It is modelled on the ACT’s existing ban on political donations from property developers and would also close a loophole allowing parties to exclude in-kind donations of free venue hire from weekly disclosures to Elections ACT.

“The data from this survey is very clear: Canberrans want gambling money out of politics,” Mr Emerson said.

Analysis by Mr Emerson’s office released when the bill was introduced found ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals had collectively received more than $275,000 in cash and in-kind contributions from gambling industry entities over the previous decade.

Mr Emerson is calling on both parties to support the bill, arguing the ban is needed before further gambling reforms are considered by the Assembly.

NSW banned political donations from gambling industry corporations in 2011 and extended the prohibition to not-for-profit clubs with poker machines in 2023.

Mr Emerson also pointed to figures previously obtained through budget estimates showing more than 72,000 incidents of gambling harm were reported in the ACT last year.

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