Two Coalition MPs have crossed the floor after a deal between the major parties to pass Labor’s new restrictions on betting advertising and inducements, with crossbenchers and the Greens expressing anger and dismay at the contentious bill’s final form. Source: The Guardian.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister, Anika Wells secured the support of the Opposition to pass the bill yesterday, with amendments including tweaks to ad timing rules and some restrictions on inducements.
Ms Wells called the package “the most significant reforms to online gambling in Australia’s history”. Mr Albanese, in a speech to Parliament, thanked the Coalition for its support and called the reforms “a result that will work”.
Independent Senator David Pocock condemned the deal, calling it a “betrayal of all Australians” on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing. He said he would be voting against the bills in the Senate and derided the amendments as “tinkering” that didn’t go nearly far enough.
The reforms are set pass on Thursday, 1149 days after the late Labor MP Peta Murphy handed down her landmark report on gambling harms, which recommended a total ban on inducements and wagering ads.
Labor’s final version of the bill, with amendments agreed by the Coalition, will not meet either of those recommendations.
Instead, the communications regulator will set up a one-stop “opt-out register” – the details and design of which is yet to be made clear – to allow Australians to elect against receiving gambling ads, while inducements will only be limited in some circumstances.
The register could take up to 12 months to be set up, government sources said, conceding the system would be complex and unlikely to be ready by January 1 next year.
Liberal backbencher Andrew Wallace joined colleague Pat Conaghan to cross the floor and vote against some of the amendments, which he claimed were inadequate.
Mr Conaghan, who was deputy chair of the Murphy-led review in 2023, said earlier: “I think we’re being weak by not implementing those reports and I think we’d be supported by the majority of the public out there.”
FULL STORY
David Pocock condemns Labor-Coalition deal on gambling bill as ‘betrayal of all Australians’ (By Josh Butler, The Guardian)
