The Greens have pledged to help the Albanese Government pass legislation to limit gambling advertising this week, challenging Labor to enact wagering reforms that were shelved late last year. Source: The Guardian.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised “we will do more” to prevent gambling harm, in a podcast interview published on Monday, but he again downplayed the prospect of fulfilling late Labor MP Peta Murphy’s call for a full gambling ad ban.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland agreed reforms were “taking longer than hoped”, but said she was still working through consultation and policy processes, seemingly rejecting the Greens’ push.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young wrote to Ms Rowland last week, again lobbying the Government to take further action.
But in a sign of compromise, Senator Hanson-Young relented on calls for a full ad ban. Instead, she offered to amend a Greens bill to reflect a suite of reforms the Government had reportedly proposed to backbench MPs and industry sources in August last year.
She called gambling reform “the unfinished business of this Parliament”.
The proposed reforms from August, which Mr Albanese and Ms Rowland would not publicly confirm at the time, reportedly would have banned gambling ads online, in children’s programming, during live sports broadcasts including an hour either side, and limits of two ads per hour in general TV programming.
The proposal had reportedly not gone to Cabinet and was not finalised.
The Government came under fire after failing to introduce reforms before Parliament closed last year.
Major sporting codes and online bookmakers had strongly opposed ad bans, while Mr Albanese downplayed the issue, emphasising the Government was focusing on other avenues to address gambling-related harms, such as the Betstop self-exclusion register.
Ms Rowland indicated in a statement the Government would not take up the Greens’ offer, but suggested the reforms were not yet dead.
“Advertising reform is complex and the potential impacts on a broad range of stakeholders need to be considered.”
She said the Government “will only progress legislation to implement online gambling advertising reform when we have concluded our consultation and policy-development process”.
FULL STORY
Labor under pressure to enact gambling reforms before election after Greens pledge to help pass stalled law (By Josh Butler, The Guardian)
