David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to the newspapers, the Minister for Communications will be announcing reforms to gambling advertising soon. Important to remember is what we're trying to fix here. On a per capita basis, Australians are the biggest losers in the world, losing around $25 billion a year. One in 10 16- and 17-year-olds are at risk of problem gambling, and 75 per cent of eight- to 16-year-olds think betting on sport is just a normal thing that you do. Gamblers Anonymous groups are reporting more teens seeking their help for addiction. Communities across the country are frustrated by not just the level of advertising but the impacts that they are seeing it have on the next generation of Australians. Our communities are expecting bold reforms that address the very well-documented harms.

However, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, a well-placed source has said that the decision 'won't be about evidence and reports'. They said:

It will be a high-level political decision driven by a desire to minimise blowback from TV companies and the sports.

I'll give the government the benefit of the doubt, but I hope on this occasion that it chooses to back the voices of the people in our communities who have had enough. We seem to have a rare moment of multipartisan support on this. I want to recognise the work of the member for Dunkley, Peta Murphy, in driving this conversation forward and for bringing every party together to agree on a way forward. What her committee recommended was a ban. I want to echo her statement on Sunday that anything short of this will not reduce harm. That's what the evidence shows. It's time to get this done.