Wallabies legend David Pocock has been banned from playing sport
Rugby NewsFriday, 10 October 2025 at 21:56
show the club’s chief executive, Andy Turnbull, told Pocock he was no longer welcome and accused him of politicising the club. He was subsequently removed from club group chats.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says independent senator David Pocock should not be expelled from parliament’s social sports club — despite Albanese previously calling Pocock’s concerns about lobbying “absurd.”
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Mark Moray, secretary of Unions NSW and founder of the campaign group Labor for Gambling Reform, says Pocock raised “legitimate questions” about the gambling lobby’s influence on politicians.
Pocock, a former captain of Australia’s national rugby team, was banned from the club on Thursday after questioning its links to gambling, alcohol, and fossil fuel companies.
He also asked whether it was appropriate for the prime minister to serve as the club’s president, given its status as a registered lobbying organisation.
Text messages obtained by The Guardian
DAVID POCOCK RESPONSE:
“Something most people probably don't know is that every morning when Parliament is sitting, members and senators from all sides of politics play different sports together early in the morning before Parliament starts. It's a lot of fun and a great way to get to know people and get some exercise in before what can be very long days up in Parliament. It helps build relationships across the political aisle, and I think that's really important in our democracy.
This has all been organised by something called the Parliamentary Sports Club. They let everyone know when things are on and bring along equipment like balls and cones to mark the outline of the field. But I was shocked to learn that the club also takes money from big businesses in return for access to morning sports and, in turn, the politicians and their staff that participate.
This includes groups like Responsible Wagering Australia, who represent the big gambling companies here in Australia. As a result, the Parliamentary Sports Club has been registered on the lobbying register for many years—something most of us had no idea about, only found out because they changed their name.
What's even crazier is that the president of the Parliamentary Sports Club is the Prime Minister, which puts him in a very awkward position as he's effectively the president of a lobbying firm, which I think most Australians would have concerns about. And it seems really nuts that it's set up this way.
After raising concerns about this privately and also publicly, the club has decided not to tell these lobbyists that they can't come, not to stop taking money from companies, and rather focus on what sport is and can be about here at Parliament.
But instead, they've kicked me out of the club. They've told me that I can't be a member, and I'm not welcome to attend fixtures operated by the club. I guess it goes to show how normalized the influence of people like the gambling industry has become in this place.
When you raise questions about that rather than dealing with what seems like a big issue to me and a lot of people I speak to, you get booted from the Parliamentary Sports Club.”
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