“I don’t know much about the financial situation of free-to-air TV, but there are examples in Australia and around the world where advertising has been removed and as far as I know no stations have gone bankrupt,” she continued.
The state regulator’s chief executive, Annette Kimmitt, said in January that she supported a total ban on the ads, but Thorne’s comments Friday were the first time he has spoken out on the issue.
Thorne added that Tabcorp had cooperated with the committee’s investigation and introduced measures to address shortcomings, but that breaches of the code merited a record fine.
“Tabcorp’s breaches reflected systemic operational failings and non-compliance with its licence conditions, resulting in significant harm to customers.”
“The Commission has given Tabcorp clear direction on what it must do to prioritise improving its operations and minimising gambling harm. The directed change programme is intended to future-proof Tabcorp’s gambling operations and ensure they comply with the law,” she added.
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The company’s shares fell more than 3% on the news, trading at 55 cents.
A Tabcorp spokesman acknowledged that the company’s minimisation settings at the time of the breach did not meet standards set by regulators, the community or current leaders.
“Tabcorp has since taken significant steps to improve customer safety, including restructuring its safer gambling team, which has resulted in an increase in customer interventions,” the spokesman said.
“We are also introducing new technology to enable us to detect changes in customer behaviour sooner and intervene sooner to protect customers from gambling harm.”
Tabcorp was separated from The Lottery Corporation in 2022 and was led until March by then-chief executive Adam Litenskild, who was abruptly fired after an investigation found he had made sexually inappropriate comments about a senior commission official.
Tabcorp has since appointed former AFL chairman Gillon McLachlan as a replacement for Mr Leytenskild, who filed unfair dismissal proceedings against Tabcorp earlier this month.
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