Topics: Gambling reforms
Caleb Bond: As you say, this could have happened a long time ago if the government wanted to do it. I think the timing is a bit suspect, dropping it on the Thursday before Easter. You know, maybe we can get another story into the news cycle that isn’t the fuel crisis.
Senator Henderson: Well, I think you’re right. It was buried, I think on Easter Thursday, after more than 1000 days of no action, lots of delay, lots of excuses, we’ve seen these announcements. Unfortunately, Caleb, one of the announcements, was to extend the blackout on gambling ads during live sport. Well, we proposed that three years ago. In fact, Labor voted against our bill in the Senate. So, what a joke. The Prime Minister has announced something remarkably similar to what he opposed three years ago. So, it’s no wonder that advocates are very frustrated by this government and don’t trust this government on gambling reform. I will just say that while we see some merit in some of the measures, we do need to investigate and scrutinise the details. The devil is in the detail and so we will be doing that work, undertaking briefings and just understanding exactly what the Prime Minister and the Communications Minister are proposing.
Caleb Bond: Well, of course, what the Prime Minister announced at the National Press Club was pretty broad. There wasn’t a great deal of detail. I mean, for instance, how does it affect racing? Because if you can’t have the announcement of odds and the promotion of gambling linked to the sport broadcast, you know, if you watch Channel 7 on a Saturday and they’ve got Randwick and Flemington or you watch racing.com, it’s inextricably linked to the broadcast. So does racing get a carve out from this or does it end up in the same boat as football?
Senator Henderson: Well, Caleb, that’s a very good question. I’m seeking a briefing on the details and that’s why we are not backing in these reforms without seeing the details. And that’s just not good enough that after so much uncertainty from this Prime Minister, again, we see him following, not leading, not showing the leadership that Australians expect. There is still so much that we don’t know about. This is also a hit job on commercial free-to-air television, they will take a very big hit in revenue, and there’s a lot of uncertainty about whether the commercial broadcasting tax exemption will continue permanently, so those questions need to be answered. But as we know this, Minister Anika Wells has been caught up in a travel rorts scandal. She’s been missing in action for many months after that scandal broke and so I’m just not sure that she’s up to the job, quite frankly. And that, of course, means that Australians aren’t being served properly by this government.
Caleb Bond: Well, it’s sporting leagues and clubs too that take a financial hit because, of course, a lot of clubs get sponsorship or have to this point, had sponsorship from gambling companies and that’s money that can then flow back into the junior versions of the game et cetera. They’ve been legally involved in that. How is it proposed that they make up the difference?
Senator Henderson: Well, can I firstly make the point that gambling addiction tears apart many Australian families and communities. It is doing an enormous amount of harm and we are concerned about the targeting of children, particularly young men. So, there is merit in restricting gambling advertising because the Alliance for Gambling Reform, for instance, Caleb, has produced evidence showing that 600,000 teens are gambling. These are under 18 children, gambling and spending $18 million a year. So while we welcome the online ban on under-18s, I’m really concerned about how that will work in practice. I’m also very frustrated by the Prime Minister’s announcement. There is a lot more work to be done and we’ll look forward to the details.
Caleb Bond: Thank you, Senator.