Coalition, Greens team up to delay Labor’s ‘half-arsed’ gambling bill

Labor’s long-delayed gambling advertising crackdown will be kicked along to another inquiry as the Coalition and the Greens seek extra time to scrutinise the contentious package, which advocates argue does not go far enough to protect families.

A handful of Liberal MPs spoke in a Coalition party room meeting on Tuesday to argue the opposition should take a strong line on gambling reform rather than wave Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s laws through parliament after they are introduced this week.

Given the government needs either Greens or Coalition support to pass the bill in the Senate, their early resistance means Labor might have to negotiate on amendments to pass the laws. Support for stronger laws from the conservatives would wedge Albanese, who until now faced most criticism on gambling reform from the crossbench and Labor’s left flank.

The issue has dogged the government for years, as it navigates the arguments of reform advocates on one side, and the sports, media and wagering industries on the other. A report recommending strong action from late Labor MP Peta Murphy sat on the shelf for more than 1000 days while the government tried to reach a compromise with key stakeholders.

Labor last month unveiled its plan to restrict gambling advertising by capping television ads at three per hour, phasing in an ad ban for stadiums and jerseys, banning sports stars from promoting wagering, introducing tighter limits on radio ads in school pick-up hours and an opt-in model for online ads. The laws also move to kill off the newer online keno and offshore lottery industries.

But the bill falls short of recommendations from the 2023 Murphy report, which called for a national gambling regulator and total ad blackout. The three-ads-an-hour limit is also weaker than former Coalition leader Peter Dutton’s proposal to ban sports betting in the hour before and after live sport.

The Greens’ communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young on Tuesday said the government was “failing to do what the experts and their own report, the Murphy report, proposed”.

“It’s a half-arsed measure that will not protect families,” she said. “The government needs to grow a spine here. Stare down the gambling lobby, stare down the big online media companies that are reaping the benefits of their advertising.”

The Coalition’s communications spokeswoman, Sarah Henderson, said the opposition also had concerns, meaning the two parties will combine forces to send the laws to a parliamentary inquiry once they are tabled in parliament later this week.

“After three years of delay, deflection and deception from Labor, the Coalition wants to ensure that new laws to combat gambling harms deliver meaningful and workable reform and not just headlines,” Henderson told this masthead.

Communications Minister Anika Wells on Tuesday said there were “very entrenched views” on both sides of the gambling advertising debate.

“That is a very significant package that the [prime minister] announced to the National Press Club in April. We are now focused on getting that done, getting that implemented,” she said.

“Delaying actual reform and actual implementation isn’t worth further consultation on a piece that has been very publicly and prolifically discussed for three years.”

Henderson’s push to send the bill to an inquiry came after six Coalition MPs spoke on the issue during a joint party room meeting earlier on Thursday.

In a meeting that otherwise urged MPs to stay on message and avoid talking about themselves during a prolonged period of poor polling for the Coalition, an opposition spokeswoman said the MPs shared their experiences of gambling addiction and the importance of getting the reforms right.

The spokeswoman said the MPs were focused on using the opportunity to advocate for alternative positions rather than green-lighting or rejecting the government’s proposals straight away. Henderson stood up afterwards and told them there was time to work through the bill and ensure the changes were meaningful.

Liberal MP Simon Kennedy said Labor’s legislation fell short of what gambling victims and their families deserved. “I’ve sat in Gambling Anonymous meetings with victims and seen the devastation firsthand,” he told this masthead.

“I’ve met broken families and relatives of people who have taken their own lives because of gambling addiction. I’ve spoken to victims who were pursued by betting companies even after trying to quit.”

Andrew Wallace, another Coalition MP, said he was speaking with his colleagues about landing the opposition’s position on amendments.

“The harm that’s being caused in Australians, in some cases, is irremediable … This government has badly let down Australians when it comes to gambling reform,” he said. “I would like to see the re-litigation of the Dutton proposals that we saw a few years ago.”

Wallace also wanted ad blackouts extended to sports replays, and said gambling inducements should be opt-in only, although he did not think a national regulator was realistic.

Seventeen Coalition MPs earlier this month joined former prime minister John Howard in signing an open letter, published as an advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, which called for Labor to consider a national regulator and stricter advertising ban than it has planned.

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