Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 wastes a generational opportunity to improve our gambling laws. The Greens just can't vote for the bill in its current form. I move:

That all words after "whilst" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"declining to give the bill a second reading, the House also notes that:

(1) every day, vulnerable Australians are bombarded with gambling ads designed to keep them betting, even when they are trying to stop;

(2) Australians should have the right to enjoy sport, and to go about their lives, free from predatory gambling advertising; and

(3) passing this bill would be a massive favour to the rich gambling corporations that are ripping off Australians, robbing people of their livelihoods and taking money from struggling families".

The government is responsible for safeguarding the Australian public from harm, including the serious harms caused by gambling. That is ultimately, fundamentally what we are discussing and debating in this place today—this government's responsibility to everyday people, to all Australians. But how can the government seriously consider reform to the gambling industry when they refuse to acknowledge, let alone address, the influence of gambling lobby?

Meaningful action on gambling reform cannot occur without addressing the pervasive, insidious influence that corporate donations and corporate access have on politics and policy. The harmful impacts of gambling on physical and mental health are absolutely beyond doubt. For years, Australians have been the biggest gamblers in the world per capita. We know this problem is getting worse, with Australians losing $36 billion to gambling last year. Genuine gambling reform must take aim at the industry's most harmful practices, including their predatory online advertising and inducements.

This bill takes no action on inducements. It fails to create a national regulator and actively weakens advertising restrictions on online streaming. This bill ignores most of the Murphy report's recommendations. It includes carve-outs and special deals for big gambling companies. This bill is absolutely riddled with loopholes and must be amended if it is to make the positive difference we all so urgently need.

Prime Minister, is the gambling lobby in the room with you right now? Have they been shaping the government's gambling reform laws? Three in four Australians support a total ban on gambling ads. Four in five Australians support banning gambling ads on social media, online, in stadiums and on players' uniforms. Nearly four in five Australians agree that government policies should aim to reduce the time people spend on gambling, and nearly nine in 10 Australians—nearly 90 per cent of Australians—support banning gambling ads during prime-time TV hours for families and children. And yet, when looking at the government's proposed gambling reform laws, it's clear that the wishes and best interests of the Australian people were not their primary concern.

Perhaps, if you can believe it, there might have been another set of interests influencing their decision-making, the interests, possibly, of the gambling lobby—putting their finger on the scales, directing the government and ensuring that the gambling industry avoids proper regulation, scrutiny and consequences. Could it have something to do with the Labor government accepting $4 million in donations from the gambling industry in the last several years? Could it, possibly? When it comes to gambling reform in Australia, it seems the House always wins. You vote. Corporations don't. So why is it that corporations—

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