Sportsbet punts NSW election markets after long odds ‘tech issues’

Perhaps it’s time for Sportsbet to stick to the footy and stay out of politics. We had wordon Monday that the betting giant had closed a market for the NSW electorate of Wakehurst,after initially offering odds that seemed wildly divorced from reality.

Since then,it appears to have suspended all betting on individual seats for the state election. It wasn’t just Wakehurst that had strange odds,with insiders from across the political spectrum flummoxed by Sportsbet’s crimes against psephology – while gleefully throwing a bit of cash in.

A spokesperson for the company told CBD they’d taken the markets down temporarily because of “technical issues”,promising everything would be back online by Tuesday. But we’re none the wiser about whether the company would honour bets made over the weekend,or whether this would be another loss-maker like the infamous decision to pay out early on aBill Shorten Labor government in 2019.

Still,puntaholic politicos need not fear. You can still bet on individual seats with TAB (although no markets for crucial marginal seats like Heathcote and Penrith). So far,all betting markets are pointing toward Labor forming the next government.

The ABC express

ABC has been doing everything it can to makeQ+A relevant again,ever since the good old days of shoe-throwing incidents andTony Abbottaccusing the show of “betraying” Australia.

Shifting timeslots anda heroic dose of Stan Granthaven’t made the one-time water cooler program what it once was. But perhaps bussing guests into the studio will. CBD was enthralled to learn residents from Brighton,in Melbourne’s south-east,were being offered free buses to take them to Monday night’s broadcast at the ABC’s Southbank studios 12 kilometres away.

Those denizens of the upmarket bayside neighbourhood lucky enough to be on the show’s mailing list were invited to take a ride into town to watch assistant minister for the republicMatt Thistlethwaite,Liberal senatorAndrew Bragg,Wiradjuri and Wailwan lawyerTeela Reid,author and behavioural scientistPragya Agarwal and British playwrightDavid Hare talk about superannuation,free speech,the monarchy and the Indigenous Voice to parliament.

While Brighton’s population is considerably older and wealthier than average,it’s not unusual for the broadcaster to bus audiences into the show. Turns out they do it all the time “as part of getting the audience mix right,” a spokesperson told us.

“Q+A provides weekly bus services from a range of areas with different demographics and voting intentions,” the spokeswoman said.

“The opportunity is often taken up by a variety of community groups,in particular students and older residents who otherwise wouldn’t be able to join the broadcast.”

Growing up fast

For a media company whose publications are so monotonously reflective of a certain inner-city progressive groupthink as to render them unreadable,Schwartz Publishing is certainly copping it a lot from internet lefties.

For starters,there’s publisher Morry Schwartz’s support for Israel,about as cardinal a sin as there could be in some quarters.

Then,just days after Schwartzweighed in on the culture war engulfing the Adelaide Writers Festival,his company,through its Black Inc Books imprint,found itself blundering into the boggy intersection of mental illness and identity politics where no rational debate can ever be held.

It started when Black Inc put out submissions for an anthology titledGrowing Up Neurodivergent In Australia,the latest in a series that has explored various identities,edited byBachelor hostOsher Gunsberg.

But in unfortunate news for people who spend too much time on TikTok,the publisher decided to only accept submissions from people with a “medical diagnosis”. Cue howls of outrage,furious tweeting,and allegations of gatekeeping and ableism.

Within days,Black Inc put out a statement apologising for any pain caused and announced the project would be put on hold.

In his own statement,Gunsberg said that limitation was “in the interests of protecting those who are yet to seek intervention,and to be ethically responsible in how this issue is presented”.

We bet he regrets walking into that minefield.

Firm friends

If anybody’s expecting fireworks from the appearance by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairGina Cass-Gottlieb at The Fullerton Hotel in Sydney on Tuesday,facilitated by her former Gilbert and Tobin colleagueElizabeth Avery,then they’re probably better off staying home.

Expand

Cass-Gottlieb’s “enforcement and compliance policy update”,her first since replacing the high-profileRod Sims in the commission’s top job a year ago,is being hosted by the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).

The ACCC chair and Avery,G&T’s competition and regulation partner,are good mates,with Avery gushing about Cass-Gottlieb’s “brilliance,dedication and hard work” when news broke of her appointment to lead the commission.

The two shared a stage just last month when G&T hosted Cass-Gottlieb for a chat about the regulation of unfair trading practices.

So don’t expect too many screaming headlines to emerge from Tuesday’s sold-out CEDA session. Cass-Gottlieb has been,let’s say,circumspect on the news-making front since taking the reins at the ACCC.

But then,most people look media-shy compared to Sims.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up here.