00:00It's pretty bad, hey mum?
00:06Four years ago, Gavin Feneff had to share the news with his family that his sports betting
00:10addiction had cost him around $8 million.
00:13A large proportion of that was money he stole from his clients.
00:18Innocent people have lost their money because of your gambling.
00:22How do you feel about that?
00:24I feel it when I wake up in the morning and all I want to do is make amends to it.
00:32Gavin is now in prison serving a maximum nine year sentence.
00:35Last year, a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling made 31 recommendations, including
00:41changes to the law that might have prevented his betting from spiralling out of control.
00:47At the heart of it, a public health approach to take away that stigma that meant that they
00:52couldn't reach out for help.
00:53Now Gavin has written a letter from prison urging the Prime Minister to act on the inquiry.
01:00The gambling companies know they are cultivating and exploiting addictions like the one I had.
01:05Please read the committee report and legislate each of its recommendations.
01:10Independent MP Andrew Wilkie is helping to distribute his letter to federal parliamentarians.
01:16I think it's a remarkable letter.
01:18As much as Gavin Feneff is the very first person to admit his guilt and to be remorseful,
01:25he also wants to see change.
01:26He doesn't want to see other people fall into the hole that he did through his addiction.
01:30One of the inquiry's recommendations was to ban inducements like bonus bets.
01:36Gavin says he was offered over a million dollars in free bets to keep him gambling.
01:41Until that report is implemented in full, including a ban on gambling advertising, I can draw
01:47no other conclusion that the government remains fearful of the gambling companies.
01:52In a statement, the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said the government is committed
01:56to minimising the harms from online wagering and will announce a comprehensive response
02:01to the parliamentary inquiry shortly.
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