The Australian Parliament Sports Club (APSC) has been de-registered as a lobby group, just days after independent Senator David Pocock was booted from the club after questioning its links to the gambling lobby in Senate estimates.
The club’s CEO Andy Turnbull, a businessman who runs a sports event company, also told Crikey that its members — including senators — had been notified on 40 occasions that a betting industry lobby group was a “corporate member” of the club, with that group’s CEO playing soccer with the club on several occasions.
The APSC — which bills itself as a grassroots sports club that sets up friendly games between political staffers, politicians, lobbyists and journalists — was recently registered as a lobby group after its sponsorship by the gambling industry lobby was condemned. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the club’s president.
Anthony Albanese at the Australian Parliament Sports Club season launch at the National Press Club (Image: LinkedIn)
On Monday morning, Turnbull told Crikey that he had initially registered the organisation as a lobby group “on the advice of a very senior member of the [Attorney-General’s] Department”. However, he also revealed he had now received conflicting advice from the Australian Government Register of Lobbyists, which told him it “sounds like … you would not have to register”.
“Based on the advice provided above, I have this morning [October 13, 2025] de-registered,” Turnbull explained.
Turnbull’s company is called Sports Hydrant, and he himself has been a registered lobbyist since September 8, 2009. He first registered the APSC on September 22 of this year — the club’s de-registration means it will have spent less than a month on the register of lobbyists.
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His statement went on to say that betting industry lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia had been a member of the sports club since July 2023, and since then, he had “emailed members and senators on 40 occasions notifying them of Responsible Wagering Australia and other corporate members”.
“Further, all football (soccer) playing members have played alongside the CEO of Responsible Wagering Australia since that time on Wednesday mornings. There have been many other sporting occasions as well.
“The sports club has received income from corporate members and sponsors for 20 years without a single other person raising a single question. It is reasonable to assume everyone was happy with the arrangements, given they were notified of it every sitting week for 20 years.”
Turnbull went on to say that following Pocock raising the issue of the gambling lobby’s sponsorship of the club in Senate estimates, he was concerned by an issue of “due process”, and subsequently described Pocock’s position as “untenable”.
Turnbull said he was initially “entrusted to do everything” with respect to the club’s activities, “at the behest of the politicians of the day 15-20 years ago”.
However, a political insider of that era told Crikey on the condition of anonymity that “there was never a clear understanding of why Andy Turnbull was involved”.
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“It was almost like he just enjoyed hanging out with politicians.”
The insider disputed the idea that the fixtures were not used for lobbying purposes — dispelling the notion of Turnbull’s “unwritten rule” of no business being discussed on the pitch — by comparing it to similar rules at men’s clubs.
“Nothing in Canberra happens without a reason. It’s an expensive city to go to.”
“Why is the NRL, Football Australia, Olympics Committee and others paying money to the Parliament Sports Club to put on events at Parliament? Because the Parliament Sports Club says they have access to Ministers and MPs. Business might not be discussed on the field, but it’s selling access by any other name.”
Senator Pocock told Crikey the current state of lobbying laws is “broken”, saying the sports club was akin to a “cash-for-access scheme”.
Following Pocock raising issues with the club’s lobbying status during Senate estimates, on October 10, he was unceremoniously booted from the club by Turnbull in a move that blew up the Canberra bubble.
Following the response from across the political spectrum, and after resignations from the club from a number of independent MPs, including Monique Ryan, Sophie Scamps and Allegra Spender, Anthony Albanese walked back remarks he had made in a morning press conference describing the issue as “David Pocock being David Pocock, getting himself in a story”.
The prime minister also said that “the amount of time I have spent on the Australian Parliament Sports Club this year is zero”, despite having spoken at the National Press Club earlier this year for the launch of the club.
By Friday afternoon, Albanese suggested Pocock be invited back, saying “participation should be open to everyone”. Following the prime minister’s remarks on Friday afternoon, an offer was made to Pocock, which was rejected.
Pocock said he would only rejoin following a “transparent” process to reconsider all memberships.
You can read Turnbull’s comments to Crikey in full below.
