After a week of blockbuster allegations around the tactics gambling giants use to keep punters losing money, David Pocock summed up the government’s position with one word.
With growing momentum for the opposition and crossbench to outflank Labor on changes to the law, on Friday the ACT independent senator said it was a “tragedy” that the government was not prepared to be tougher when it came to curbing gambling advertising.
Why, the former Wallabies captain asked, was Anthony Albanese standing in the way of strong public sentiment and bipartisan support for tougher laws, especially in the wake of the landmark report led by Peta Murphy, the late Labor MP?
The issue was turbocharged by evidence from veteran campaigner Tim Costello and former NRL player Luke Bateman to a parliamentary inquiry. Maybe not since the revelations that Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate had bought executives gold watches has evidence to a Senate committee so significantly burst out of the parliamentary bubble.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailCostello and Bateman alleged on Monday that problem gamblers had been supplied with cocaine, alcohol, sex workers and luxury hotels by VIP account managers hoping to keep big-spending punters betting as long as possible. Bateman estimated he lost about $1m himself, while Costello said he was providing support to a man currently in prison after stealing millions to feed his addiction.
The industry lobby group, Responsible Wagering Australia, and big companies Sportsbet and Tabcorp said they had no evidence to support the allegations, but critics of the government’s plans knew the evidence would dramatically amp up pressure on Labor to do more to stop harm.
They were right.
The shadow communications minister, Sarah Henderson, and the Greens spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, both signalled they would demand the government go further in order to win support for the bill in the Senate. All of the non-government parties believe Labor’s plan to limit gambling ads on TV to three an hour before 8.30pm is insufficient, along with bans on radio ads during school pickup and drop-off times, and bans on logos on player jerseys or promotions in stadiums.
Labor’s legislation would also strengthen the self-exclusion scheme known as BetStop and create the option for viewers to opt out of advertising across online platforms and streaming services, dubbed the “triple lock” system.
In November last year, Essential poll asked voters which position was closest to their view on how the government should act. The poll found 40% supported a ban on all gambling advertising. A further 23% said advertising should be allowed but only with heavy restrictions, and 28% said moderate restrictions around the times of day and types of programs should be put in place. Just 9% of respondents said the government did not need to restrict gambling advertising at all.
Labor needs support from either the Greens or the Coalition to pass the bill in the coming weeks.
But why – in the face of strong community support and the growing political push – won’t Albanese agree to implement more of the recommendations of Murphy’s report?
It called for a total ban on all forms of online gambling advertising, to be implemented over three years, including an immediate ban on inducements and inducement advertising.
By sometime around 2026, all online gambling advertising and sponsorship would have been prohibited permanently in Australia and a national online gambling regulator would have been established.
Defending the right of people to have a punt, Albanese believes the country’s most popular sporting codes, including the AFL and NRL, would pay the price if the government were to go further on limiting or banning gambling ads. Critically, he argues community sport would be among losers for tougher rules, with funds filtering down from national codes to local leagues and competitions drying up. The prime minister has also made the case that media organisations rely heavily on the revenue they make from the commercials.
Exactly how important the influence of high profile people like Australian Rugby League Commission chair, Peter V’landys, and AFL chief executive, Andrew Dillon, is over Albanese’s position is unclear. Both codes refused to appear before the inquiry and, when asked to explain, V’landys made unbecoming comments about elected members of parliament, calling the committee “publicity-seeking extremists”.
Research released by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) this week found every club in the NRL and five in the AFL are sponsored by gambling companies and both leagues make tens of millions from sponsorship deals, including revenue from every bet placed on their sport.
The deals are worth as much as $50m a year for the NRL and $30m to $40m a year for the AFL, according to FARE.
Some within Labor believe Albanese has a blind spot on public opinion on the matter. It is significant that a group of Labor backbenchers – including Louise Miller-Frost and Alicia Payne – told Guardian Australia this week they want the government to go further. Hanson-Young and Liberal Simon Kennedy have been critical to the growing momentum in their parties, and the push across parliament is gaining a head of steam.
The possibility of the Coalition, the Greens and independents, including Pocock, forcing some kind of defeat in the Senate, like what happened on aged care funding in September last year, will likely focus minds within Labor. The communications minister, Anika Wells, says she is having constructive discussions already and Tuesday’s Coalition party room meeting could prove crucial.
Action on inducements is possible, but there is also growing support across both the Coalition and Labor for an opt-in system for advertising, replacing the current rules that allow account holders on streaming platforms to indicate a preference to not receive gambling ads. Responsible Wagering Australia’s Kai Cantwell said this week that the industry would not accept an opt-in system.
Significant Labor reforms like plain packaging rules for cigarettes and moves to ban tobacco advertising, started by the Whitlam government, show the path forward for Albanese, especially as the current proposal remain friendless in the Senate.
• Tom McIlroy is Guardian Australia’s political editor
