Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to reflect on the latest figures that show that more than half of Australians—in fact, two-thirds—want to see urgent action taken to curb gambling advertising on our televisions, on our radio stations and online. Gambling, and gambling addiction, is a scourge. Here in Australia, about $25 billion is lost in legal gambling each year. That's the highest in the world—$25 billion—which is extraordinary, not to mention the ramifications for people's welfare, wellbeing and mental health. I'm extremely concerned that we have a Minister for Communications, who is in charge of the advertising rules, who has taken donations from the gambling industry. She has sat down, had dinner with Sportsbet and taken $19,000 in donations, yet here we have the community crying out for her to wind back the influence and scourge from this industry.

This is a moral issue. It is simply wrong. It is simply wrong that gambling companies are able to target Australian children through online advertising and through running betting ads during sports matches. It is morally wrong. I don't care how many dinners the minister has or how many dollars in donations she collects. She must accept that her job now is to clean this up. (Time expired)