Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

It is racing season in Australia, from small country tracks to today's Melbourne Cup—the race that stops the nation. It is also, sadly, for many people, peak gambling season. I'm here today not to speak of gambling per se but to speak of the pernicious impacts of gambling advertising, because you cannot turn on the television, stream a sporting match or scroll social media without being bombarded by a tsunami of ads selling false hopes, easy wins and good times. The gambling lobby insists it is harmless entertainment, but we all know that Australians are not buying that. Let's be honest, those three-second disclaimers, rattled off at triple speed at the end of those ads, do nothing to counter the damage. By then, the harm is already done.

Australians know the scourge of gambling harm has gone too far. Indeed, the late Peta Murphy was a powerhouse in this place—much loved, deeply admired by many. When I was speaking on her passing I recalled meeting her at 'pollies kindergarten'—the place we all go when we begin our time here—and my first impression was this: crikey, this woman will take no prisoners. But the truth is we're all prisoners of the gambling lobby. Her landmark report, You win some, you lose more, laid out the roadmap for gambling reform. If the government had acted on its recommendations, we would have removed more than a million gambling ads from our screens and airwaves in the last year alone.

This is not radical reform; it is a duty care to Australians. As legislators, we have responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of our constituents. It was reported by Roy Morgan last week that an estimated 622,000 people have serious gambling problems. If any other condition caused the level of harm gambling does, we would have declared this a national emergency yet we continue to wait for this government to act, and Australians are rightly asking why.

Constituents across my electorate often ask me why meaningful action has not been taken, and the answer sadly lies around who gets access to power. Research from the Grattan Institute shows industries most affected by regulation like gambling, property and fossil fuels dominate political donations, lobbying contracts and meetings with senior ministers. This has to stop. The gambling industry is dramatically over-represented in every measure of political influence compared to its contribution to the economy. These are industries whispering at the door, saying, 'Don't worry about us; you don't need law,' even when the evidence screams the opposite.

Australians are screaming for this to end, and I call on the government to act now.

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