The government’s decision to shelve plans to rein in gambling advertising has prompted fury in parliament and confusion among ministers, who have offered contradictory reasons for the delays.
A year and a half after late Labor MP Peta Murphy delivered a parliamentary report recommending a total ban on gambling advertising, with the unanimous support of Labor, Coalition and Greens committee members, the government has yet to respond to the proposal.
The government committed to restricting gambling ads, but that has faced repeated delays after backbench resisted a model that would not fully carry out Ms Murphy’s recommendations.
It confirmed on Sunday that the gambling ad restrictions would now not be progressed this week, which is the last sitting week of the year and possibly for this term of parliament.
On Monday, two ministers invoked the late Ms Murphy’s name to offer contradictory views on the gambling advertising bill, which has still not been publicly seen.
Competition Minister Andrew Leigh, a friend of Ms Murphy’s who supported a total ban, told ABC Radio Canberra the government was ready to bring advertising restrictions on “immediately”, and only had not done so because it did not have the numbers to pass it.
He also took offence to suggestions from senator David Pocock that the government had acted with cowardice.
“Peta Murphy was a mate of mine, so I found David Pocock’s comments pretty offensive,” he said.
“We have worked incredibly hard to progress gambling reform.
“The fact that we aren’t able to find the numbers in the Senate at the moment to pursue sensible reforms the minister has put up is disappointing.
“It’s quite clear at the moment … the numbers aren’t there to progress the reforms the government has put through, which would significantly curtail gambling ads around major sporting events so there would be a blackout period before and after sporting events.
“If we thought the numbers were there, we’d put it to the parliament immediately, but the fact that the numbers aren’t there says everything about the way in which the opposition is moving into blocking mode.”
Andrew Leigh said the government was in a position to bring on its gambling advertising bill “immediately”. (ABC: Matt Roberts)
His comments contradicted another Labor minister, Anika Wells, who Monday afternoon said as a friend of Ms Murphy’s and as the sport minister, she was in a “good position” to say gambling ad bans were not ready to be introduced to parliament.
“I’ve got concerns about how this is impacting sport integrity and how this is impacting our athletes who are being targeted by people because of … the development in this space,” Ms Wells said.
“But also … on the flip side, I’ve got national sporting organisations and professional codes who are worried about how this will impact the viability of their financial model.
“So on both sides that I need to look at, I think it needs more nuanced work, and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with [Communications Minister Michelle] Rowland on the 31 recommendations of the Murphy report.”
For months Labor has been divided over its plan, with a group of caucus members advocating for a total ban in line with Ms Murphy’s recommendations, and others including the prime minister pushing for a partial ban.
Late Labor MP Peta Murphy was praised for her work on an inquiry into gambling advertising that unanimously recommended a total ban. (Parliament House Broadcasting)
The Coalition has not declared a position on tougher gambling advertising laws, but the opposition did advocate last year to ban gambling ads during live sport and has said it looks forward to seeing the government’s proposal.
The Greens have advocated for a total ban on gambling advertising.
The party’s spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said Labor had “no excuse for failing to ban gambling ads”.
“Everyone can see that Labor have caved [to the gambling industry],” Ms Hanson-Young said in a statement.
Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman said on Sunday the government’s continued delays revealed the prime minister was “scared” of the major sporting codes and media companies that might resist a ban.
“Most people in Australia accept that there is a need for action on gambling advertising,” he said.
“Back in June last year, 18 months ago, the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, stood up in his budget reply speech and said a Coalition government would ban gambling advertising from one hour before live sport to one hour after.
“But we’ve got a prime minister who is so fearful and so scared he just wants to put his head up under the doona and do nothing.
“The golden thread that runs through the Albanese government is weakness and indecision.”
