Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I stand to support the motion of the member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, seconded by the member for Mayo.

Thank you, Minister, for your explanation, especially on BetStop. I will look into that. However, in my community in Fowler, as you probably know, we've got one of the most prolific gambling problems. Especially for people from non-English-speaking backgrounds, it is a huge issue, as you can appreciate. There is gambling advertising on television, radio, print, film, billboards and online—especially online. Young people are online now more often than ever, and I think we need to do something as a government to ensure kids don't see those gambling advertisements.

I support the need for us to actually have this debate in the House, to talk about the severity of gambling. We can't just put it off. BetStop might be one aspect that can help, and I will look into that, but I don't know if that will help my culturally diverse community, for instance. Is BetStop something where people pick up the phone and call and try to exclude themselves? I don't know if that will work for people in my community. Therefore, we need to do something; we need to be proactive in ensuring that gambling advertising online and on billboards stops. It impacts us; it impacts our daily lives, especially in my community. So I really support the member for Clark and the member for Mayo's motion. And I thank the minister for the opportunity to speak on this.

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