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

I move:

That the Senate take note of answers given by the Minister representing the Prime Minister (Senator Wong) to questions without notice asked by Senator Hanson-Young today relating to gambling advertising.

Today, when asked if the government agrees that gambling ads cause harm and fuel addiction and why it has again delayed urgent reform on gambling ads, it compared what it has done to the coalition's track record. Really, could the bar be any lower? When asked if it would finally act on gambling harm and ban gambling ads, we were told that they were too busy. Yet this government has enough time to attempt to ram through discriminatory, inhumane migration legislation—migration legislation so draconian, so cruel, that in a contest with the coalition it would inevitably come out on top. We have waited for the government to respond to the parliamentary inquiry led by the late Peta Murphy for over 18 months. Now, this government has completely squibbed it. It is the one thing that experts have said will keep people safe over summer, when families and kids are sitting down to watch sport and kids continue to be bombarded with gambling ads—the one thing. But nada, nothing—more excuses, more dodging and more weaving. When asked if you would stop taking donations from the dirty gambling industry, you laughed dismissively with full knowledge of the responsible minister's lavish society birthday lunch. It is more clear than ever that Labor are unwilling to bite the hand that feeds them.

It has been over a year since the late Peta Murphy tabled the report of the House inquiry into online gambling, a report that gave a clear recommendation to end gambling ads across all media within three years. In the face of the Labor government's inaction, the Greens recently introduced a bill to ban gambling advertising in line with those recommendations. We did this because we know that it's what the public wants. But the major parties are completely out of touch with this reality because they spend more time listening to the gambling lobby than they spend listening to the public. For far too long, effective regulation of the gambling industry has been obstructed by dirty political donations to the major parties and the revolving door between this place and lobbying firms. Labor and Liberals continue to receive millions of dollars in political donations from questionable donors, including in the gambling industry. They serve their donors while ignoring the pain that gambling harm inflicts on families right across this country. The power and dirty donations of our gambling lobby cannot be allowed to infect our democracy and put our kids in harm's way any longer. It's clear for anyone watching to see that Labor has caved and failed to act on gambling ads.

But no-one should fall for Peter Dutton's trickery either. The coalition was in government for years and did nothing, absolutely nothing, on gambling. Both Labor and the coalition are completely captured by the gambling lobby, while Australian families and gambling addicts lose out. This is the last sitting week of the year. We could pass laws to ban gambling ads by the end of the year with the Greens bill, in line with the Peta Murphy inquiry recommendations. Labor could choose to prioritise gambling reform instead of the cruel, inhumane migration bills it's trying to pass. Labor talks big on social media safety for young people under 16 yet fails to do anything to protect them from the exposure they face to gambling. If this government is serious about making social media safer, it must get on with banning gambling ads.

The Greens are the only party with a clear plan to reduce gambling harm that goes beyond advertising bans to comprehensive national regulation. We are calling on the government to urgently ban all gambling advertising across TV, radio and print and social media. We're calling on the government to establish a national independent gambling regulator. We're calling on Labor to put an end to political donations from the gambling industry.

These measures would go a long way towards keeping our kids and families safe.

We know that gambling ruins lives and disrupts families, and it's a scourge on the Australian community right now. People want policies like those of the Greens to end gambling ads. This Labor government can run from gambling reform, but it can't hide from the seven in 10 Australians who want gambling ads banned now. We need a consistent approach to gambling, not a patchwork of regulations and loopholes. The Greens are ready to work with the Labor government this week, today, to end gambling ads and the scourge that they create to our society. It's time for Labor to choose a side. Do Labor work for Australian families, or do they work for the bookies? I think the decision should be pretty straightforward.

Question agreed to.