The sport-doping scandal has not only been a disaster for sport, but is also a political quagmire. In an election year we would normally see the Opposition flinging mud, bringing out sport after sport and laying the blame on the Minister.

There have been some attempts, but the reality is that Lundy remains largely unscathed. She has emerged as a competent minister who has recognised and identified a problem, a really serious problem, and is underway in wrestling with the issues and implementing solutions.

Her success is not a fluke. The conventional approach would be for a minister to sit on the bad news as long as possible in the expectation that the problems would not come to fruition. Lundy has managed the revelations much more effectively.

Rather than letting the situation fester, her approach has been positive. She has taken a proactive bat to the political challenges, admitting that things have been going awry, identifying what she understood as the problems and outlining the actions to be taken by the Government.

Australians love sport and sportstars. It was easy when the issue was Lance Armstrong and we could point the finger, shrug shoulders and laugh a little at overseas cheating and their slack approach to doping. However, we are somewhat more vulnerable when others are taking a similar approach to our sportstars.

Although Senator Lundy has done well so far, there is at least one important area of concern that remains to be confronted – the inappropriate links between money and sport.

The Australian Crime Commission already has the relationship between sports betting and organised crime on the agenda. It is high time this connection was brought into the open. It is not a uniquely Australian problem, but when large sums of money are involved it is just honey to the bees of organised crime.

Sports betting increases the vulnerability of players and the game. Our society is long past the time when sport was largely an amateur exercise about healthy competition, the competition is now not only dependent on the skills and fitness of the players but on the amount of money that can be spent to secure the best players for a particular team.

Perhaps because sport is amongst the healthiest of community activities, it is the unhealthiest of our industries that are advantaged by association. Not so long ago all Australian governments used the combination of regulation and tax on tobacco to successfully buy out the sports sponsorships of that industry. Unfortunately, this left an opening for alcohol and fast food sponsorship.

There are some spectacularly awful examples. Despite huge efforts by governments to change the culture of drink driving in Australia, motor racing is still being supported by alcohol advertising. Jim Beam is a sponsor for V8 Supercars and was subject to complaint recently for selling stubby holders that associate racing and alcohol as well as children’s jackets with their logo as part of the promotion of their product. (See v8supershop.com.au).

Fast-food companies’ support includes junior sport – implying that their unhealthy food should be part of a healthy activity. Hungry Jacks’ website states: “Hungry Jack’s has been a proud supporter of Australian football for more than 25 years. We see all codes of football as an integral part of Australian culture, so are pleased to offer our ongoing support – from the grassroots to the elite level”. The Whopper was even “the Official Burger of the AFL”.

Lundy has demonstrated her calibre regarding the immediate problem. Now it is time to resolve the underlying drivers of sports sponsorship and betting.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.