Former NRL player alleges gambling figures offered to supply drugs

Former NRL star Luke Bateman has alleged gambling company executives coaxed him into taking drugs, while promoters offered to supply him with cocaine and alcohol.

The 31-year-old influencer told a gambling Senate inquiry on Monday that he had often been invited to exclusive events while he was suffering from a betting addiction.

“There were times where I would be flown interstate and taken to race days, put in marquees with alcohol and food provided all day,” he said.

“Before getting there, your VIP manager would go, ‘Hey, mate, what drugs do you want? Do you want a couple of bags for this weekend? We’ll organise that for you. We’ll have that ready for you when you get here.’”

He did not name the betting company.

In one case, Bateman alleged he took drugs as a young man with senior executives of an unnamed betting firm at an event on the Gold Coast.

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“All the management team, administration, and they were sort of all in the back room doing drugs together, and I was out in this room doing drugs with all of them. This is like the CEO, the founders, the VIP managers,” he said.

“At that stage, I would have been 23 years old.

“These are men in powers of positions, of power with influence who should be looking out for your welfare, and this is the kind of behaviour that they are drawing you into, encouraging you into, and coaxing you into, and normalising.”

Bateman’s gambling addiction cost him an estimated $1 million. Despite being a well-paid NRL player, he retired from the game more than $250,000 in debt.

Despite his bets often becoming erratic and losing thousands of dollars in a single day on hundreds of races, he said he received no welfare support from gambling companies.

“They identify immediately within your first hour to first week, whether you’re going to be a whether you show signs of problematic gambling, and also how much you’re gambling with the amount, and then they will assign you a VIP manager,” he said.

“Basically, once again, they identify you as vulnerable, and then they exploit that vulnerability with zero welfare.”

The Senate inquiry will hear about gambling harm as advocates call for the federal government to strengthen its proposed reform bill.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young told reporters on Monday there are holes in the legislation and called for the Coalition to support the Greens and independents to block it in parliament.

“It fails to protect people from the predatory and insidious nature of this gambling industry,” she said.

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“The fact that people will still be bombarded with gambling ads online on streaming services, that there is no national regulator, and that people will be subjected still to the predatory and highly targeted inducements, it is heartbreaking.”

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government wants to introduce its changes without delay.

On the matter of inducements, she said gamblers can opt out via the BetStop service.

“Obviously we wish to do everything we can for people who are suffering from gambling harm,” she told reporters on Monday.

There are many different ways to get help and information about gambling. You can visit the National Gambling Helpline or call on 1800 858 858.