Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Gambling is destroying lives, gambling is costing our country billions and gambling is tearing families apart while it feeds off their misery. Why, then, are we back here in the Senate debating the existence of gambling ads in Australia? Why is the Labor government refusing to listen to the majority of Australians who are desperate to see an end to harmful and destructive ads on their televisions? And why is this Labor government so afraid to adopt recommendations from its own inquiry, led by Peta Murphy, which called for gambling ads to be banned across all media and at all times within three years? Instead, more than a year on from this inquiry, gambling ads continue to bombard us via every medium. When our kids sit down to watch a game on a Friday night, they're dealt gambling ad after gambling ad, creating a whole new generation of gamblers in this country.

Meanwhile, Minister Bill Shorten treats us like mugs and spends his breath arguing that gambling isn't the same as tobacco—but on what basis? As with the link between smoking and lung cancer, gambling harms are well-known. Apart from the massive financial losses, there are cascading physical and mental health impacts, suicide, inability to work and a myriad of other issues. Just as the tobacco industry profits off people's misery, so does the gambling lobby. It preys on kids and families, costing Australians a whopping $25 billion every year. Just as tobacco kills people, gambling kills people. It kills people and it destroys families.

I return to my initial question: why are the Labor government not prepared to adopt their own recommendations and ban gambling ads? Who is the government afraid of? Anything less than a comprehensive plan will be considered a comprehensive failure by the Australian public, who deserve better.