The push is on for shareholders in Seven and Nine to use investor power to stop gambling ads on Australia’s two biggest TV networks.
Reverend Tim Costello, Chief Advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform and brother of former Nine Chair Peter Costello, has joined with ethical investing and shareholder advocacy platform SIX to propose shareholder resolutions at the company AGMs.
The campaign needs 100 shareholders in order to raise a resolution at the next AGMs of Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media this year.
This will be the first time shareholders have mobilised to propose shareholder resolutions at Seven and Nine. But the deadline to be involved in the campaign (Sept 3) is fast approaching.
Rev. Tim Costello, said “We can’t get gambling reform until we’re inside these companies.
“I’ve bought the minimum parcel of shares in these companies. If others do the same or use their existing shares in these companies to support this campaign too, that’s how we get inside these companies and push for change.
“The media companies are completely out of touch when it comes to gambling ads. 7 out of 10 Australians want gambling advertisements on TV to be banned. Australians lose $25 Billion each year to gambling, the highest per capita spend in the world.
“It’s clear that these big media companies are not going to tackle the scourge of gambling ads until they are forced to. We’ve waited too long for governments to act, so now we’re using shareholder power to take action.”
Adam Verwey, CEO and co-founder of SIX, said “Time and again, Australia’s biggest companies have shown that they only care about one group of people, their shareholders. So, if we want to make change at some of Australia’s biggest companies, then we need to do it as owners of those companies.
“This will challenge institutional investors and super funds to support a resolution that has such broad community support. Given the huge community cost of gambling, it’s hard to argue that banning gambling ads isn’t in the best financial interests of super fund members.”
The proposed shareholder resolution demands the removal of all gambling advertisements from the company’s television, radio, streaming, digital and publishing platforms.
The campaign already has the support of the Reichstein Foundation and leading ethical investment firms Ethinvest and Future Group.
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