Australian independent senator Nick Xenophon has a new target in his war on gambling. During a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling, which is being conducted in relation to his legislation to restrict and ban forms of the activity, he called out Sportsbet and the practice of using commissions.

During the parliamentary inquiry, Cormac Barry, the CEO of online betting agency Sportsbet.com.au, admitted that his company pays millions to third parties to refer gamblers to them. Barry said that they paid between $3 million and $4 million per year in commissions to businesses and individuals who refer new clients to them. They would network at racing clubs and different gambling circles and then refer gamblers to Sportsbet.

During the inquiry, Barry said that those clients who were referred to Sportsbet were not told that commissions were paid on the referral. That could be in violation of Australian laws against deceptive conduct. Senator Xenophon asked Barry if he broke any laws by not disclosing the commissions. Barry said “I’m not familiar with that particular piece of legislation.”

Different states have different laws regarding the matter, which is why Xenophon has decided to take on the issue at the federal level. He said that he intends to add a ban on betting commissions to his online gambling legislation. Senator Alan Tudge, who is co-sponsoring Xenophon’s bill, said that the practice is “immoral, unconscionable and should not continue. We need to take action to break this business model.”

Barry said that paying commissions for referrals is common practice. Sometimes the referrer gets a “finder’s fee,” while at other times they “can gain a share of revenue from the customer, so an affiliate share.”

Well, iPhone applications are causing a fuss again. This time isn’t not an app for shaking a baby or snorting cocaine, though. This time it’s about gambling.

Australian parliamentarian Nick Xenophon is outraged about poker iPhone apps that allow children to play the popular card game, betting fake money. He says the apps should be banned because they teach children to gamble at an early age and could lead to gambling addiction.

Citing concerns that it would get children used to the idea of playing poker for money, he said that “kids can become poker machine experts years before they are legally allowed to set eyes on a real machine.” In Australia, you must be at least 18 years of age to place a bet in any of their casinos.

The iPhone apps addressed by Xenophon are applications that have been endorsed by some of the big-name online casino companies. Though the games are free and you only gamble with play money, Xenophon worries that it could develop a pattern and teach kids that playing poker is a good way to make money. He said that the iPhone apps are “a training application for kids to lose real money when they turn eighteen.” Most of the apps do not have age restrictions.

Though he would like to ban them outright, Xenophon acknowledges that removing access to them in the country may not be possible. As a more realistic goal, he intends to push for legislation that would make it illegal to provide the iPhone gambling apps to children.