Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Not a week goes by—sometimes not a day—that I'm not approached by someone in the community who is sick to death of gambling advertising. They literally are sick of it. They're sick of seeing gambling advertising every time they turn on their TV. They're sick of seeing gambling advertising every time they pick up their phone or their iPad. They're sick of the advertising in the newspapers. They're sick of the billboards. They're sick of the signs at the sports fields. They're sick of gambling company names on the strips, on the shorts, on the tops. They are sick of it, and they want to see an end to it. If there's one thing this government could do to please the community more than anything else, it's to ban gambling advertising. That's what the overwhelming majority of the community want.

The community is sick of gambling advertising for a broad range of reasons. Many members of the community are sick of it because of the way it spoils their enjoyment of what they're trying to watch on TV, often a sporting game. Also, members of the community tell me they are sick of gambling advertising because of the way it is promoting and normalising gambling. No wonder Australia has one of the highest take-ups of gambling of any country in the world. In fact, by some measures we are the biggest gamblers in the world—and no wonder when, every time you turn on the telly or open the Mercury or whatever, it's wall-to-wall gambling ads. And of course the community is deeply worried about the way this advertising is presenting gambling to our children as being normal and commonplace.

We have this bizarre situation in Australia where gambling advertising is banned during G-rated TV times but there's a specific carve-out for gambling advertising either side of a sporting event. So, on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, when all the kids are in front of the telly, watching their sporting heroes and their role models, before the game and after the game these children, often little toddlers, are being bombarded with gambling advertising. This just beggars belief, and it raises the question: how on Earth have we allowed this situation to develop?

Well, regrettably, up until now there've been lots of quite obvious explanations: the donations of gambling companies to some politicians and some political parties, and the hospitality that's extended to some politicians. In fact, even in this parliament there's been controversy about a senior government member inappropriately enjoying hospitality from the gambling companies. There's also that fear of a media backlash. The AFL, for example, spends countless millions of dollars on gambling advertising: Ladbrokes, Sportsbet, Betfair. All these companies between them spend hundreds of millions of dollars on gambling advertising.

So, is the government prepared to wind back the advertising and basically take on the media barons? Up until now it has not. But I will give credit where it's due. Hopefully things are changing. I hold out considerable hope that some hard recommendations will come out of the current inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs into online gambling and its impact on problem gamblers. If that committee has listened carefully and accurately reflects the views of the community and witnesses, I would be very surprised if it doesn't recommend a ban on gambling advertising. I say to the government: even if you won't ban gambling advertising, at least get rid of this carve-out that affects children, allowing gambling advertising to be on the telly during G-rated TV times, when it is most dangerous.

But of course the government needs to go further. Yes, it has announced a ban on using credit cards for online gambling, and that's good. I would also take this opportunity to call on the government to take that next big step, which is to ensure that not only is there a ban on credit cards, not only is there a ban on advertising but that their daily limits are linked in real time so that when someone hits a limit with one company they're locked out to the rest—that was an opportunity to give that a little plug there!

I applaud my colleagues who have spoken today. I think we are speaking for millions and millions of people who want advertising reined in on gambling, on tobacco and on other dangerous products. That's what the community wants. There is a test for this parliament: are we standing with the community, or does this parliament continue to stand with the big corporates and the dangerous products they pedal?

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