Clubs Australia has defended its $20 million ad campaign opposing stricter gambling laws, amid calls for the campaign to be pulled.
Senator Nick Xenophon has lodged an official complaint with the consumer watchdog, while independent MP Andrew Wilkie has joined calls for the campaign to be opposed.
Clubs Australia spokesman Jeremy Bath told AdNews: "This lodging of a complaint with the ACCC is yet another stunt from Senator Xenophon. It has absolutely no credence whatsoever. We look forward to Xenophon issuing a release when the ACCC reject his complaints."
Clubs Australia and the AHA appointed Banjo Advertising to create the campaign, although an online video which has been released was created by another agency, Page 2 Communications.
Clubs Australia and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) launched their campaign on Monday (11 April), in an attempt to curb government plans to bring mandatory pre-committment technology into Australian poker machines.
In response to the campaign, Senator Nick Xenophon yesterday lodged a complaint with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), claiming the campaign is misleading.
"The claims are misleading and imply that the proposed gambling reforms are going to impinge on people's rights. That's not at all what this is about. These reforms are about trying to address problem gambling and, through a pre-commitment scheme, giving people the option to choose how much they're willing to lose on the pokies. The Hotels and Clubs campaign says gambling reform is un-Australian but what's really un-Australian is for them to be against helping problem gamblers."
Meanwhile, Wilkie, who is the driving force behind the propsed gambling reforms, has also hit out at the campaign, which he claims is a smear campaign against him.
Wilkie said: "Two days ago the pokies industry commenced its campaign against my reforms to reduce problem gambling, including a $20 million public disinformation campaign. That some in the industry would stoop to a smear campaign against me is unsurprising. It says a lot more about the pokies industry than it does about Andrew Wilkie. Moreover the smear campaign shows that this industry, which profits enormously from human misery, will stop at absolutely nothing to prevent these historic poker machine reforms."
In response to the comments from Wilkie, Bath said: "We are not involved in a smear campaign. Wilkie has made these allegations and then he has gone to ground."
The proposed national reforms, which seek to limit problem gambling, are being pushed by the Gillard government as it seeks to retain the support of Wilkie.
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