Yesterday was one of those days in the media when a strong theme runs through the news, without anyone actually joining the dots.

From Federal politics to the sporting pages there was a lot of talk about the evils of gambling.

Sadly, even top officials at Cricket Australia seemed resigned to the latest Pakistani cricket bet scandal, including claims Australia's surprise win in the Sydney test was also fixed. Jamie Pandaran in the Sydney Morning Herald looked at the corruption of Pakistani cricket in some depth.

Aussie sport at risk from net bet explosion

Much of the recent problem with international betting scams has to do with the explosion of internet sports gambling.

The issue is far from merely a foreign problem.

Perhaps it was a case of stating the bleeding obvious but earlier this year I predicted there would be many more sports betting scandals due to the growth of 'spot' betting on micro events within a game, which is far easier to corrupt.

The National Rugby League (NRL) has called in NSW Racing chief steward to investigate allegations of fixing in the recent Cowboys versus Bulldogs clash. The allegation focuses on a huge betting plunge on the Cowboys scoring first via a penalty.

While the player who gave away the penalty - Bulldog's forward Ryan Tandy - has denied involvement in the alleged betting scam, NRL officials should be very concerned with the claims the punters in this case were largely the same 'inside traders' that backed the Storm for the wooden spoon just before news of the player payment fraud broke.

Overall, there has been a lack of public attention on the growing symbiotic relationship between corporate sport and the gambling giants.

Indeed, as I indicated in Southern Cross earlier this year, the Storm's corrupted corporate culture appears to have originated in a desire to hide the club's sponsorship links with a big gambling house.

NSW’s gambling addiction, Wilkie and pokies reform

Independent Senator Nick Xenaphon has long championed the need to better regulate the gambling industry, including internet sports betting.

After advice from Xenaphon, new Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie has made measures to address problem gambling key items on his check-list for supporting a new Australian Government. (Although its far from the only issue on Wilkie's priority list.)

Given it's extraordinary reliance on gambling taxes, it is no surprise State Labor came out yesterday and rejected measures to tackle problem gambling.

In NSW we have gone backwards since I investigated the issue in 2008 for Southern Cross.

Two years ago the Coalition was at least considering the possibility of reform.

To my great disappointment Opposition treasury spokesman Mike Baird has gone very quiet on gambling reform in NSW in recent years. (Love to hear differently Mike!)

I find myself nodding in agreement with Peter Debnam's lament at the NSW Liberal's small-target approach:

"It means that you actually have to be courageous and you have to lay out your policies… You actually have to say, we’re going to do it. Not just imply that you’re going to do it.’‘

Pokie reform at the State level has been put in the too-hard basket.

So we look to the Feds.

While there seems to be legal questions around the Feds' constitutional right to intervene on the States gaming addiction, Stephen Mayne made an excellent point on Crikey.

The wisdom of the Wilkie/Xenaphon approach is that it looks to address the issue at the (revenue rich) Federal level, argues Mayne.

As the major parties contemplate just how far they push the pokies reform agenda to secure Wilkie's support, it is worth considering. an academic study showing John Howard's guns buyback policy reduced suicides using a fire-arm by 200 a year.
If you can buy back guns and water licences, there is absolutely no reason why you can't buy back pokies licences.
Sure, it will be expensive to compensate State governments, but think of the benefit to those citizens who are currently losing almost $10 billion a year playing the pokies. A whopping $4 billion of those losses are estimated to come from Australia's 100,000 problem gamblers.
No other country on earth has comparable statistics, so why wouldn't Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott take up the challenge and commit to things like the $1 maximum bet as the Productivity Commission recommended?

The churches

In a sense we are all exploiting the suffering of those families who live with a problem gambler, via our State Government's addiction to revenue from problem gambling.

Gambling reform is one of the few issues where the churches could speak with a united and credible voice.

A campaign to reduce problem gambling could unite conservatives with the 'social justice' left.

Plus the churches have public credibility on the issue due to all their community work, which often touches on the fall-out from problem gambling. (If I’m reading their social exclusion report correctly, last year Anglicare in Sydney alone provided emergency relief to 700 households who were in need due to the impact of a gambling addiction).

PHOTO: Mohammad Yousuf and Michael Hussey after the Australia V Pakistan second cricket test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Jan. 6, 2010. (AAP Image/Tim Clayton)

So over to you:

1. What can be reasonably done to reduce problem gambling?

2. Should the Government better regulate betting on 'micro' sports events?

3. Does the Government need to do more to regulate the relationship between big sport and big gaming, given the potential conflicts of interest?

4. Is a complete ban on gambling companies sponsoring sporting teams warranted?