Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a question for the Minister for Communications. I understand there are AFL executives in the House today. Is it true that the government continues to water down its proposed gambling reform because of pressure from the powerful broadcast media, sports codes and gambling companies, against the wishes of the Australian community?

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. The problem of gambling harms is there, and I'm sure every member of this place is concerned about that. On the important issue of wagering advertising, I've made it clear that the status quo is untenable. The need for meaningful action is clear, and we know that Roy Morgan insights recently showed, amongst other things, that the number of people betting on sports has doubled in the past five years and 10 per cent of sports betters are classified as at risk of problem gambling. We know that this is unacceptable. That's why we need reform and that's why we need to get reform right to deliver both harm reduction and cultural change.

Now, commissioned under the Albanese Labor government, we had a comprehensive report by our late colleague Peta Murphy with one of the best analyses of the problem. It is time now to turn to implementation. There are three priorities at stake here: tackling the normalisation of wagering in sport, reducing the exposure of children to wagering advertising and tackling the saturation and targeting of advertisements, especially in the online space and especially to vulnerable groups such as young men aged 18 to 45.

The member's question goes to stakeholders. The member's question goes to the process that we are undertaking at the moment in addressing these priorities. Having gathered the evidence about harm in response to this report, we have assessed the impact of various options and we're consulting on a proposed model. Stakeholders are putting their views forward, and the government will continue to consult in a mature and orderly manner consistent with a proper cabinet process.

The member's question also contained some imputations, and I think it's important to have the facts here. For example, not assisted by some commentary:

… Teal independent MP Zoe Daniel said that Rowland had met 66 times with gambling executives in six months, according to documents uncovered following a freedom-of-information inquiry …

It goes on to be repeated in a quote from the member for Goldstein: 'She is conspiring with the sector to continue grooming young people.' That is not what those FOI documents uncovered. In fact, the documents will show I met zero times with gambling executives. We will continue to go about this process with the facts in an orderly way, because facts are important here. (Time expired)