By Leo Gaggl December 8, 2025
Series: Who Really Decides? – Taking Back Our Community’s Voice
From the price of broccoli to the pokies in our local pubs, the influence of powerful lobby groups can be felt in almost every aspect of our daily lives. In this final post of our series, we look at two of Australia’s most entrenched lobbying machines: the gambling industry and the supermarket giants.
Their power comes from their ability to influence policy behind closed doors, often blocking common-sense reforms that would benefit our health, our household budgets, and our local businesses.
The Pokies Lobby: A Bad Bet for Our Community
Australia has a tragic title: we have the highest gambling losses per person in the world. This isn’t by chance. It’s the result of decades of lobbying by the powerful hotels and gambling associations.
As documented by investigative journalists and integrity bodies like the Centre for Public Integrity, this industry has consistently killed or watered down reforms that are proven to reduce gambling harm. This includes opposing simple measures like universal player cards, sensible loss limits, and real-time data monitoring that would help protect vulnerable people.
The local impact is clear: Money that could be spent in local cafes, shops, and small businesses is instead poured into poker machines, with the profits leaving our community. The social cost of gambling harm places a heavy burden on our families and public services.
The Supermarket Duopoly: Squeezing Both Ends
When you see the price of groceries going up while our local farmers are struggling, it’s a sign that the system is not working for everyday people. A powerful duopoly of supermarket giants, Coles and Woolworths, exerts enormous control over our food chain.
They use their market power to squeeze farmers on price, while their aggressive lobbying has blocked reforms that would promote fairer pricing, clearer food labelling, and reduced plastic waste. As reports from The Australia Institute show, this kind of concentrated corporate power allows a few big players to shape the market for their own benefit.
For us in Boothby, this means:
- Higher prices at the checkout.
- Less shelf space for products from local South Australian growers and producers.
- A food system that prioritises corporate profits over the wellbeing of farmers and families.
The Unifying Thread: Community Over Corporate Influence
Whether it’s climate, healthcare, gambling, or groceries, the story is the same. When a handful of powerful lobby groups have privileged access to decision-makers, our community pays the price.
This is why we need a community-backed independent.
An independent representative doesn’t have to answer to a party that takes millions in donations from these very industries. They are free to listen to the evidence and vote for what’s best for the people of Boothby.
They can fight for:
- Real gambling reform that reduces harm.
- A fairer deal for our local farmers.
- Greater transparency and accountability from big corporations.
Imagine policy shaped by people who live here, not lobbyists who don’t.
Thank you for following this series. If you believe it’s time to put our community’s voice back at the heart of our politics, please join us.