Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Hansard source

I second the motion. Australians spend more than anyone else in the world on legal forms of gambling. Almost half of Australian adults who do gamble are at risk of or are already experiencing gambling harm, according to research conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare—in other words, financial hardship and psychological distress, relationship breakdown and sometimes resorting to crime and even suicide. That we allow gambling companies to actively encourage gambling addiction is, quite simply, unconscionable.

The link between gambling advertising and risky gambling behaviour is no secret. These advertisements seek to normalise gambling and to foster a culture among Australians, particularly younger Australians, of continuous betting. The Australian Institute of Family Studies found the link between gambling advertising is not only strong but strongest amongst our young people. Moreover, one in five young women and one in seven young men began gambling because of an advertisement. Worse still, 40 per cent of those already at risk of gambling related harm gamble impulsively after seeing or hearing promotional material. No wonder recent research shows that gambling addicts make up 20 per cent of some sports betting companies' entire company base. Surely this is unacceptable. Surely it must end. I'm constantly told by constituents that they are sick to death of the incessant gambling advertising campaigns, especially in recent years, when there has been a surge of exposure to gambling marketing, advertising and sponsorships. Indeed, the Australian Communications and Media Authority reports that more than a million ads bombarded Australians between 2022 and 2023 alone, which genuinely is an onslaught of harmful messaging that can no longer be ignored.

Behind these statistics are real people, like Mark Kempster, a constituent and recovering gambling addict who has lost around $100,000. Despite repeatedly pleading with gambling companies not to contact him and being on an exclusion list, Mark still found himself receiving emails offering him bonuses to open new accounts. In the words of Mark himself, 'These types of unsolicited advances can ruin people's lives,' and he's right. They did their best to try and ruin his. And then there's Gavin Fineff, the formal financial adviser who gambled and lost more than $8 million of his clients' money with the willing assistance of Tabcorp, Ladbrokes and BetEasy. Yes, Gavin understands he did the wrong thing and is now in jail. But he's not the only one to blame, because the predatory practices of the gambling companies clearly facilitated and encouraged Gavin's gambling addiction, offering him VIP status, bonus bets and even tickets to big sporting events.

The government cannot allow this madness to continue. When the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, chaired by the late Peta Murphy, published their report on online gambling harm last year, they made 31 recommendations, including banning gambling advertising. So it's entirely unacceptable that an entire year has passed, almost to the day, and the government still hasn't responded to the report or enacted any meaningful reforms to combat gambling advertising. But I suppose that's not inconsistent with the report released by the Centre for Public Integrity last year, which showed that $24 million in donations have flowed to Labor and the coalition from the gambling industry over the past two decades. And let's not forget the $19,000 or so that Sportsbet donated to the then shadow communications minister, now the communications minister, in the lead-up to the 2022 election.

It's way beyond time the government stopped kowtowing to the gambling industry, as well as the big media companies and sporting codes, and instead focused on protecting Australians from such predatory industries. The voice of the community is loud and clear on this issue, and the government needs to start listening. There is simply no place for gambling advertising in the Australian media, and it's way beyond time it was banned. The member for Mayo's bill would do just that, and I'm delighted to support and second it for the second time due to continuing inaction of governments.

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