Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to a question without notice I asked today relating to gambling.

I want to put it on the record very clearly that there was a refusal from the government to even take the question that I asked of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Wong. The government has been so cowardly on this current push for gambling legislation.

My question was about the recommendations put forward by the Murphy review. The Murphy review called for a ban on gambling advertising. The government has failed to deliver that. The Murphy review called for an immediate and complete ban on inducements. The government has failed on that. The Murphy review called for a national regulator, and the government has failed to implement that.

When I asked what the Leader of the Government in the Senate thought the late Peta Murphy would say, the government had no answer—crickets. It's an uncomfortable question, yes, but it's a very, very important one. They were too cowardly to even take the question, let alone answer it. The Labor Party was too cowardly to take the question but has taken millions of dollars in donations from the gambling lobby in recent years, not counting the free dinners and the free tickets to sporting events and corporate boxes. It is time that the Labor Party put themselves on the Do Not Call Register and stopped taking inducements from gambling company and industry. The Labor Party should rule themselves out of further inducements.

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

We have seen today another Labor-Liberal corporate party stitch-up. Instead of the Murphy report, we are seeing an incredibly expensive opt-out register that will not work. We will see more gambling ads on our televisions. This is not reform; this is nonsense. It is an insult to the families, to the experts and to all of those individuals who took part in inquiry after inquiry, mapping out what true gambling reform looked like and mapping out what needed to happen to keep families safe and disconnect this evil gambling industry from sport and from the pervasive impact that it has on our children.

The Australian people aren't the winners today. The gambling industry, the vested interests, are the winners, as they so often are in this place. Eighty per cent of Australians want gambling reform. At the same time, trust in politicians and in democracy is at an all-time low, and you wonder why. You wonder why when this mob come in here and, instead of voting like the people who elected them into this place expect them to vote, time and time again, vote in favour of their donors and in favour of the industries that they're meant to be protecting us from.

The Prime Minister has ignored the Peta Murphy report, ignored the experts and ignored Australians who are expecting this government to show some leadership and protect them from the gambling industry. Whether it's gambling reform, whether it's taxing our gas or whether it's doing something about plastic pollution, it is issue after issue after issue where the Australian public are demanding leadership and these corporate parties are teaming up and saying, 'Nah, not today.' I urge you, Australia, remember this when you go to vote. Remember the cowardice of the Albanese Labor government, who do not represent you.

Question agreed to.